Little kids are so amazing. I was sitting in my office in the basement of the Bean Life Science Museum this morning when I overheard a young boy walking down the hall. At the time, there was a class for elementary school students going on next door. I could hear the instructor talking about crocodiles. Then I heard this boy shout, "Oh, this is AWESOME!" He was very excited about something. I assumed it was the baby crocodile that the museum uses for the class: you know, an exotic, scary animal at your fingertips! Wah! How awesome! But then this kid surprised me. He followed up his declaration of awesomeness with this statement, "A wild turkey--how cool!" And he was dead serious.
Being a birdwatcher myself, I thought this was particularly touching. The baby crocodile amazes children because it is loudly exciting and even a little dangerous. We appreciate adrenaline in this culture. On the other hand, the wild turkey is a common bird, somewhat ugly, but still an important part of our world. It even has historical value for Americans (in an incident where it proved itself to be delicious). This quiet specimen clearly spoke at length with the boy outside my office. And his response was, "How cool!"
So, gentle reader, I turn to you. What quiet, everyday things make you think "how cool"? What things speak to you?
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3 comments:
That boy sounds adorable - and like he'll grow up to be my ornithology professor, Dr. Moriarty. I think the other kids will grow up to be like my herpetology professor, Dr. Lapin. It is funny because those two are always duking it out over whose animals are better haha.
I would say my favorite amusement are my bird feeders hanging outside my bedroom window. I have one filled with seeds for finches and another with nectar for hummingbirds. I love my daily visits from the birds. I can watch them forever! It is way better than waking up to an alarm clock, even though they've apparently never heard of Saturday.
I think it is awesome how when the sun comes up, it touches the different parts of Timp bit by bit, so some faces of the mountain are still in shade while others are bright white, pale pink, or pale gold. That's one of my favorite things to see in the morning.
At this very moment Nicholas and Koshka (our cat) are having a Sunday afternoon nap and just watching them sleep makes my heart feel like it might burst out of my body. :) Here is to the little things! (sip of water inserted now)
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