Thursday, July 3, 2014

The buried llama

The other day, something never before seen in Nebraska happened.

 We have a kid's building here that has a kid's dig (featuring three casts of animals actually found in the ash bed), a llama skeleton that can be disassembled, and other kids activities. It is a great place, especially because we can send exasperated parents with whiney kids there when all their child wants to do is come out on the dig site (which we can't allow for the safety of them, us, and the fossils.) When I saw all of these activities for the first time, I had to ask Rick how often the llama got buried in the kid's dig. He chuckled a bit, and said that the building had been open for a couple of years now and that that had yet to happen. Why would I suggest such a thing, he asked... "Oh. That would happen almost daily if we had something like that back home... and the parents would probably record it for youtube instead of discouraging it..."

 Well, the other day, Rick comes to me and says, "You know that one group that came through with that one boy? Well, I was watching them over the video feed in the kid's building, and for the first time in Ashfall history... they buried the llama."

 And what state did the group tell me they were from? Mine. Great job, folks. I consider my point proven.

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My Story (Very briefly...)

Lots of people claim that they wanted to be paleontologists at the age of 3. So did I. The problem is, I never really grew out of it. My third birthday party had dinosaurs. Everywhere. I grew up digging in fossil dirt from Aurora, NC, looking for coral and shark teeth. I practically lived at my local science museums (and still do, only now I get to do research, fossil preparation, and work in collections!) When local paleontologists discovered a dinosaur with a "fossilized heart" (no longer considered such) when I was little, I got to meet the man who led the work. And then, years later a dinosaur bone with soft tissue turned up. I was officially hooked.
No longer was I dreaming about dinosaurs. I was actively pursuing the science behind prehistoric creatures. I didn't want to read about it, I wanted in on the action. So I started working at the museum, and finally going on my own adventures. And thus, I needed a place to share them and maybe inspire others the way I was inspired. I have gone from watching fossils be prepared from one side of the glass at the museum to working on them on the inside of the glass. I am a student working toward my goal. I can finally start to call myself a paleontologist.