retreat____the womb of nostalgia

on a bleak and cold sunday afternoon, unclejon and i attempted to escape the blandness of ottawa's social landscape by taking a trip down memory lane. we drove deep into the east end, where 'canada's museum of science and technology' sat, surrounded by barbed wired parking lots and deserted strip malls. this flat boxy building once contained the magic of our childhood. many a field trips were taken on large rumbling yellow school buses to this once elusive mecca of invention and wonderment. many a memories still strong, of running rampant up and down the halls yelling and screaming, stumbling through the tilted 'crazy kitchen' and gazing up gaped-toothed at larger than life train cabooses.

but how times have changed. and time was not kind to dear old science+tech. in a decade and then some, our old childhood haunt had received minimal rejuvenation from the government and the years were clearly etched into its worn out face: peeling signage, corny eighties graphics and new, cheaply constructed exhibits that looked like a maze of red and white rogers at&t cellphone kiosks. the life-sized white space hub that was once packed with eager kids lining up to try its state of the art interactive features, now was empty and hollow, eerily silent like the real thing. the gloriously massive trains that use to tower over our small prepubescent bodies now look like old, retired machines held captive in a crowded, dimly lit airplane hanger: no glimpse of the grandeur and stature they once possessed.

we stood in the doorway of the beloved crazy kitchen like two silent ghosts of childrens' pasts, and watched a miniature army of little munchkins bulldoze through the slanted room, falling and sliding, and clutching the rail for dear life, with glee on their faces, completely oblivious to anything else. we didn't even walk through the kitchen. why bother, their glee was nontransferable. we left after an hour.

jon: " if 'a night at the museum' ever happened here, it would be the dullest cast of characters ever. it would be that tweed dude behind the glass, riding on one of the canoes."
me: "so...musuem of civilization next week?"

if you don't believe me, here is the site for more info...it's as updated as the museum itself.