Darwin Day at Broward College

     February 12^th was Charles Darwin's 201^st birthday. Landing on a Friday, people all over the globe celebrated throughout the weekend for convenience. Proudly, I am not to be excluded from the "festivities" of this holiday.

     The first event Richard Dawkins brought attention to was held at Broward college in Coconut Creek, FL. With my preexisting interest in physical science and Darwinisim, I was particularly excited that an event worth mentioning, first of all mentions no less, by Dawkins' crew, would be located in Florida. I informed my dad of my immense interest the day  I read the tweet. With two weeks notice given to make plans of preparation (who would watch my brother Kirk, etc.), I got the chance for a life changing experience.

 

     I have this thing, if I'm going somewhere important that I know I'll remember for the rest of my life, I'd prefer to be the one driving myself and whoever may be with me. A few months ago when I went to Gainesville with my mom to check out the University of Florida and see a game, I asked if I could drive for this very reason. There's something about knowing I drove myself to an important destination that is too symbolic for me to let go of. It's not about the literal task of driving, but "driving myself to a point of purpose."

     The trip to Gainesville took roughly three hours. This trek down Florida, as opposed to up, took over four, I believe. You would think an hour or so difference isn't much, but actually, maybe you wouldn't if you've driven long distances on four-five hours of sleep and an empty stomach. I didn't realize until Saturday how tiring driving can actually be. My dad pointed out the obvious that has escaped me; you're heavily focusing on the same thing for hours-long intervals, surprisingly more draining than you'd - or maybe just me - expect.

     I was so tired after we left Broward, I fell asleep on the way home with "The High End of Low" blaring through the car's speakers. To further prove how exhausted I was, I have never fallen asleep in the car before in my life, with the single exception of when I dozed off as a child. Even then, I didn't sleep, I was still very much aware. I can also not sleep without white noise, or I thought I couldn't. I actually slept with a fan on my face for most of my lifetime, and I've never taken a single nap in preschool or kindergarten.

     I obviously wasn't texting anyone in particular all day long. Less obviously, I couldn't help but wonder how many chickens died everyday to be used for my lunch, and the lunch of others, from Chicken Kitchen in West Palm Beach.

      "Someone" likes this photo a lot, I particularly don't, but I'm going to post it anyway. I'm in West Palm Beach, the sign in the top right corner proving so made it pretty humorous, I thought, because it was unintentionally captured in the shot. My dad was more concerned about getting a picture with it in the background, but with one effortless try, I nailed it, haha.

 

     Once we had arrived, I knew these were going to be my kind of people.

 

     My dad and the man himself— Charles Darwin!

     He looked a lot shorter from far away, but I'm 5'7", 5'8", so he was pretty tall.

     My dad looking at some organisms, I believe they were krill or something similar. This was set up in proof of evolution, although we didn't need convincing, of course. This, and a few other exhibits were set up to attract the attention of particularly children.

     After reading The Greatest Show On Earth and learning of a large print-out of a severely scaled "Tree of Life", it was a nice surprise to see one in person. Complete with color, pictures, and elaborations, I was impressed. I was not keen on printing out the fifty-something pages it typically requires to piece them all together. Plus, I didn't know what I would do with it once I had completed it.

     My eyes aren't open, but I love this picture. I think because it reminds me of how beautiful a day it was, I look so peaceful and happy. My dream weather is for it to be chilly, windy, but warmly sunny, and that's exactly what it was like that day.

     This was a part of the Animal Adaptations lecture, provided by the Palm Beach Zoo.

     Frontal of my Darwin Day Broward shirt.

     I absolutely adore the end of the Origin of Species, and everything Darwin is and represents. (But the random capitalization - and lack of - of this t-shirt confuses me.)

     All in all, it was an amazing experience that I'll remember for the rest of my life, and I hope I attend many more events on Darwin Day.