That’s Mackie’s foot sticking up out of the sling there.

(Like how I’ve totally dispensed with the lists? Sticking out the daily posting to the end, but that theme has run its course.)

Funny the things one gets nostalgic for: I-75 South in the winter, huge grey sky, snow blowing across the highway, miles and miles of farmland and nothing but tractor-trailers to punctuate the view. I could drive up and down this stretch of road all day.

For Christmas, my parents gave my husband a reproduction of a skull specimen of australopithecus africanus. My husband is a biology teacher who is extremely interested in the study of evolution, so this makes perfect sense. We were expecting it by Christmas, but it didn’t arrive until this week.

The specimen is called the Taung Child, and was discovered in 1924 in South Africa. It is believed to be of a three year old child. It fits in the palm of my hand. It’s crazy to hold that in my hand, and then look at my own three year old, who has a huge head in comparison, and think that they came from the same distant ancestor. Kind of the same feeling I get when I take him to the zoo.

My friend Kristin told me to tell him that the camera adds ten pounds. Hee.

A bit of a morning ritual.

(two weeks ago:

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