It happens every time I get away from my blog for a while. I sit down and think, “What can I write that anyone would read?” It’s been so long since I’ve posted, I wonder if anybody still reads. When was the last time I posted? (goes off to look) OCTOBER 28! Practically a whole month has passed without me sitting down here. What happened?
Oh yeah, I remember–We went to a wedding. Then when we got back I got my wisdom teeth removed (4 impacted teeth, lucky me). Sunday, while I was still recovering from wisdom teeth extraction, Wiggles got sick (Roseola we think). After a few night of getting little to no sleep, I had to recover a few days before sitting back down at the computer.
Here I am. I’m not sure we are out of the chaos yet. Looking around the house, I’m actually quite sure we haven’t recovered from the chaos yet. (Do I get a “get out of house cleaning free” pass for this week?) I do think I am getting my feet back under me, and the late nights when I couldn’t sleep have given me some “thinking time” that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
I’m thinking I need to stay up till after midnight every night.
Our last day in California was spent at the San Diego Zoo–world famous for its animal breeding program. By random chance, dumb luck, and a little favor from God, we got to see the results of the famous animal breeding program.
San Diego Zoo Baby Gorilla
On Friday, March 6, Frank, a western lowland gorilla was introduced to the public for the first time. Frank was born in September and weighs about 13 pounds now. Interesting, our little Wiggles was born in November and weighs about 14 lbs now. By the time Frank is full grown (at about 15 years) he will weigh over 400 lbs. Hopefully Wiggles will never tip the scales at 400 lbs.
For more pictures of Frank (and other baby zoo animals) go to What’s New at the San Diego Zoo and click on “Animals”
Here’s a picture of the Flamingos because they are pretty in pink.
San Diego Zoo Flamingos
Normally, we never would have considered going to the San Diego Natural History Museum–too much “evolution is a fact” for my liking–but while we were vegging out on TV in the hotel, I saw a commercial for the Body Worlds Exhibit. Body Worlds is the show where the anatomist, Gunther Von Hagens, created plastination and has created an educational, artistic, scientific exhibit of the amazing human body using real cadavers that have been plastinated (the individual consented to body donation in their lifetime). I mentioned to Brenton that I would love to go see that exhibit, and when the show dates came up at the end of the commercial he said, “Actually we could.”
Before I go any further, there is something you should know about me. I was that kid in school who sat in the back of the class in Human Anatomy 101 and turned white just before I threw up and passed out–Well, I never actually took anatomy 101 because I knew I would get grossed out and pass out. Me wanting to go see Body Worlds is like a cat wanting to go for a swim–in a frozen lake, but there I was standing in line to enter the Body Worlds exhibit on opening day at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
I made it through the first 15 minutes before having to go stand on a wall and ignore the plasticized bodies all around me. By the end of the tour, I was fascinated, reading every description, listening to the audio information, going back to see features again. So what changed?
The change happened in the life beginnings section of Body Worlds. This is perhaps the most controversial part of the exhibit because human fetuses have been plastinated. Fascinating to me because I just went through pregnancy and I still can’t believe that I grew a baby in my body. Controversial because the world doesn’t want to face the humanness of an unborn child. (All of the fetuses were the result of natural miscarriages) In this part of the exhibit, there were about 6 fetuses at the 3-4 months stage of pregnancy. Even at that early stage of life, each fetus had unique facial features–no two looked alike.
The quote on the wall said, “The work of staggering genius begins with just one cell.” And I thought, “They got it! Human life couldn’t be the product of random chance.” But I was too hopeful, and later the audio tour discussed the evolution of the human brain.
After passing through the pregnancy/intro to life section, I found each new display more fascinating than the last. The same God that created the wonders of pregnancy and the miracle of life created ever system of the body to work together so precisely and so miraculously! The heart is amazing. The lungs are amazing. Muscles are amazing. Skeleton. Circulatory system. The reproductive cycle is amazing. Even our systems for waste removal–amazing! Fascinating! Miraculous.
I ended the tour with an even deeper sense of wonder. I cannot fathom how anyone could study the amazing systems of the body and still believe that it all happened by random chance. It is too complex, too organized, too planned to be random.
Controversy or no, if you get a chance to see this exhibit–GO! You will walk away with an even greater wonder and appreciation of the amazing power of God the Creator–that is, unless you are the sort who will turn white and pas out during the exhibit.
I was not allowed to take pictures during this exhibit. For more information, check out the Body Worlds homepage.
