What I needed

 So I did decide to go to the museum I was talking about today. My original plan was to drive to Denison, get off the interstate (it's more pleasant on surface streets once you're over the river, than continuing on the interstate). 

 As I got closer, I realized I wanted both a restroom (and that turns out to be smart) and lunch before hitting the museum. So I stopped at Katy Depot, which has reliably good restrooms.

And of course a yarn shop

Yes, I went in. Bought a clearance yarn in black and bright colors, and another skein in purple and hot pink. I may make mitts out of the black-and-bright yarn, and maybe a hat of the purple.

And I got my favorite, a croissant sandwich with scrambled eggs, ham, and cheese, and a chai tea latte at CJs.

I posted a photo on bluesky and several of my mutuals just glanced casually and thought it was a curled up sleeping cat at first:

 

And then on to the museum. I'd never been there before so I had Siri map out the route and I followed its instructions. I'm glad I took the one route (it offered three), it was simple and also took me through streets I'd not seen before. The museum is just a few blocks south of downtown, once I was almost there I recognized where I was.

It's mostly a historical museum, and is in an old Carnegie library. There are three paintings - The "Three Muses," I think, from its days as a library

 The historical exhibits are in the basement - there were some boards about the old interurban system in Sherman (Man, it would be nice to have that back again - hop on a train, be dropped off at the main shopping area, hop back on, get home. Or use it to go to things like museums). And they have a farm and ranch room that is sort of the "here's some stuff grandma hung on to, do you want it to show kids how people used to live" type of display. 

 There was also a bedroom (no mattress on the bed - probably to reduce the temptation for people to sit on it) as well. And there was a small display about the old Woodman of the World children's home that used to be in Sherman (It was torn down last year after they determined it would be impossible to rehab for a new use, which was kind of sad.)

But the real attraction for me was the display on the main floor, which is where the rotating displays are (in September they are doing one celebrating 50 years of the museum)

The sidewalk leading up gives you a hint:

Most of the dinos on display were reconstructions or casts - not the actual bones.

But there were a couple actual bones you could TOUCH - a humerus and this leg bone:

 

And yes, I touched it! It's not every day you get the chance to touch an actual bone that was, tens or hundreds of millions of years ago, in an actual dinosaur. 

The models were fun, too. I didn't know how SMALL Dimetrodon was - some of them only about two meters! Like a very large dog or maybe a small horse

 They had some explanatory signage. The one I liked best showed the species found in my region.

 Heh. "Dinosaurs? In MY Texoma? It's more likely than you think!"

 I would have liked to have seen the estimated times when each species was extant for a comparison - I don't think they all coexisted - but you can't have everything.

They also had a species/genus I'd never heard of before: Bambiraptor. Yes, Bambi like THAT Bambi. It made me think of the old Bambi vs. Godzilla cartoon (IYKYK) but I don't think that was why it was named. It was discovered in 1995 in Montana. (Only one is known so I wouldn't be surprised if eventually it's folded into some other, more widely known species. Often when there's just one example it's either a juvenile of the other species or a slight mutant or something)

 

There were also some invertebrate fossils. I didn't look carefully to see if these were molds or reconstructions with bits filled in or actual fossils, but there's a big trilobite and what look like beetles and some scallop shells:

 

'

 

They also had some Ice Age era animals, like the so-called Dire Wolf (in skull form) 

They have a "Friends of" group you can join, I took the form and I think I will. You get free admission if you're a member but that's not why I want to do it - I like the idea of being a part of this and supporting it, and they also said that membership opened volunteer opportunities, which, I need to start thinking about "someday when you retire you will need a New Purpose" and I always thought this kind of volunteer work would be enjoyable. 

And also, they probably need some help. The docent who took my admission fee apologetically said their elevator wasn't working, and the restrooms were currently closed for repair (so: good I used the one at the Katy Depot). He said "we were hoping to get some kind of a federal grant for upgrading, but...." and I said "yeah, I get it, I know what's going on." Maybe there will be some other group that can help them out, they're a nice small museum and the old Carnegie Library they're in is attractive. 

There were a few things for kids; in the lower floor there was a sandbox set up to be a "dinosaur dig" (I didn't check to see if there was anything in there; they may only have "seeded" it for school or scout groups) and there were some kid-oriented displays in one room

And they had a neat little puzzle showing Pangaea with movable continents

 I joked on Bluesky with this one: "Mr Bond, what if I.....TOOK....Eurasia"

 Or maybe that would be more of a Dr Evil thing, rather than a Bond Villain thing?

They did have a very small gift shop - some books, a few polished stones both as jewelry and for kids (there were the magnetic "magic stones") and some other little things. And a few dino themed things for this display.

And one of my traditions has been, when I'm at some kind of a natural-history museum where they have small plushies of interesting animals, I will buy one as a souvenir. 

     I still haven't picked a name. When I was a kid, stuffed animal names used to take one of two forms - sort of stupid and descriptive (so: "Greeny" for this) or based on the species name (so: "Brak" because this is a brachiosaurus) or else very elaborate and weird in the way that it's a name no child would want to bear themselves. I am toying with Princess Nigella Pettybone for this one, going the "overly elaborate" route for her. 

I also took a run through Albertson's on the way back home, so my grocery shopping is sorted for a little while.

But I really needed that day out at the museum, it made me happy to do it. It's just fun looking at dinosaur bones and it pushes away the worries of the world. Perhaps I should go back to our (purely local history) museum in town, and maybe go to the Choctaw Cultural Center at some point (I've been told the admission there is fairly steep compared to the $5 I paid today, but.....I'm not going on vacation anywhere so $15 or $20 is cheap for a day out that cheers me up.