I'm still flitting about the East Coast, spending a few more days in Philadelphia before winging back to the Midwest. I'm going to continue to slack off on the updates until I get back, but at least DarkSyde seems to be keeping everything hopping around here.

I will mention that we had an absolutely splendid day at the AMNH. It would have been even better, if only days were a few thousand hours long.

Best Christmas trees ever. There was a pair of these evergreen dinosaurs outside the American Museum of Natural History. We spent a full day in the museum, which wasn't enough but was exhausting anyway.

We saw lots of bones.

There were splendid displays of comparative anatomy in the primate hall—

…and a number of famous reconstructions…

…and here's Skatje standing next to some of her relatives, Lucy and Turkana Boy. Christmas is a good time for family reunions.

We tried to hit all of the special exhibits: a couple of IMAX shows, butterflies, the comparison of northwest and southwest Native American art, and frogs.

Of course we saw the gem stone exhibit, but the biologist in me says that the Waxy Tree Frog is much, much more stunning than the old dead Star of India.

We planned things badly, though. We raced around the building all day, and finally, when we were all worn out, we hit the magnificent fourth floor, which was entirely dedicated to evolution. It was very well organized, laid out cladistically with displays in each hall showing the key morphological features that grouped all of the animals within it together.

Or maybe we planned it well. If I'd started here, the family would never have peeled me away until closing time, and then they'd have been really irritated with me. We may not look enthusiastic here, but it was after 5, and we were wilting a bit.

A few more days, though, and we'll be home again. We just have to survive Philadelphia, and it's natural history museum.