Oregon Magazine

Traveling the West? Stay at Shilo Inns

Travel to the Oregon Coast and Learn:
There is more to a pond than scum

Late in March, according to the colorful Guy DiTorrice of the Oregon Coast Aquarium, their Ocean Exploration Station will feature an exhibit titled "Under the Lily Pad." It's an interactive exhibit, they say, which (we assume metaphorically) allows one to wade into the "the mysteries of pond life and explore the role these soggy spaces play in a healthy ecosystem." (AP Photo: Guido DiTorrice, Mayor of Venice, C. 1454 A.D., wearing world's first inflatable T-shirt.)

DiTorrice goes on.

"Visitors dip into the microscopic life of a pond community with the help of Aquarium volunteer interpreters and see if they can identify the many creatures in the 'duck soup' found in a pond ecosystem. Learn what's lurking beneath the pond's surface as you watch perch and bluegills, compare newts and salamanders and search for tree and red-legged frogs. You'll be ribbetted!"
We count three puns in that last paragraph, alone. DiTorrice, marine biology's answer to Louis Rukeyser, likes his job.

"Test your sense of hearing as you tune into the Creature Chorus and hear the symphony of the various animals making their home in and around a pond. Become a budding entomologist and see the world through an insect's eyes with aquarium insect goggles and discover the changing life of dragonflies in their specially designed lair.
Become a botanist and learn about some of the unusual plants that serve as the pillars of the pond community. Then spend some time learning why ponds are important ecosystems. "Under the Lily Pad" replaces the "Crab Lab" in the Sandy Shores Gallery at the Oregon Coast Aquarium starting March 23."

Lily pads are wonderful things, as are dragonflies, salamanders (sounds Turkish, that name), bluegills and bass. I once used lily pads in a children's story. A pike lurked under them, waiting for unsuspecting critters to try to use them as stepping stones. Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous architect, liked lily pads, too.

Johnson Wax Company office in Racine, Wisconsin, considered one of Wright's masterpieces. The building leaks when it rains, and has done so since it was built. It is a small price to pay for great art, and lets people know what it feels like to be under real lily pads. Originally, as I recall, it contained lots of desks. Now, it may be an employee wetbar. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is not a Frank Lloyd Wright design, but if he was still around, he would no doubt attend this exhibit.. (LL)