Our Impressive Heritage: Palóc Museum

Perhaps you’ve already noticed, dear reader, that I hold history, art, and literature in high regard—and luckily, I’ve been able to share this passion with Ruben as well. I love the 21st century: I’m amazed by progress, the possibilities, the internet, and how anything we want is just a click away. I enjoy the freedom to learn whatever I want; the equality (yes, even the right to vote, which today means something a bit different, but there was a time when women would have fought fiercely for it); the opportunity to travel; the ability to live according to a faith you truly believe in, not one you inherited. That if a woman wants purple hair, she can dye it; if she chooses manual labor as her vocation and excels at it, she can support her family. Today, it’s shocking to be stigmatized for these things. For all this, I cannot help but honor the past.

It’s impossible not to bow before those who saw their opportunities clearly and lived boldly. People who discovered, thought, built, healed, researched, and fiercely desired what ultimately led them to success. What could be more inspiring than a creation that continues to nourish life even centuries later?

To help my son appreciate the beauty of each day, I like to occasionally draw his focus to the steps we’re standing on and look back at the history behind them. Of course, I don’t overload his little mind with heavy philosophy, but a rainy morning is perfect for wandering through a stunning building and its exhibition, which opens a window to fascinating parts of the past. We didn’t have to go far—where we had our mid-morning snack yesterday, today we visited a museum!

The Palóc Museum can’t be called a dazzling exhibition, but in its reflection, I see the local history, which I feel a duty to visit every few years. Its name is “From Wisdom to the Grave” and it showcases life from about 100 years ago with life-sized dolls and rooms furnished as living spaces. We’ve been here before this year, tagging along with Grandma’s kindergarten group, but recently the museum added two temporary exhibitions that I definitely wanted to show my little one: one about World War I (so he can see that war is hell, not a game) and a natural history and geology exhibit (which didn’t exactly thrill either of us, though the stones were indeed beautiful—I imagine someone more knowledgeable could tell us much more about them).