The latest theological question

Why did God create animals that eat people?

To her credit, Susan did a nice job talking about the Fall.

Getting ready for, and excited about, taking Sam on his first camping trip at Higley Flow State Park. Just an overnight while we are up at camp. If all goes well.

Also thinking of a little hike from Adirondack Loj to Marcy Dam, near Lake Placid. The trip to the Rockies got me in mind of this. I had briefly courted the idea of camping overnight up there, until I realized there aren't any toilets, which might be too big a leap for Sam.

What else? A trip to the science museum, where there was a new exhibit on the brain.

Science museums are hard to do well.

In an effort to translate the cool ideas into something that works on a kiosk, they tend to turn into simple games, short looping movies, science toys, or, well, freak shows. The brain exhibits included all of these. A looping movie on the brain; a variant of the old game "Operation" which had something, I suppose, to do with brains--I can't recall what; not one but two kiosks talking about trephining and holes in the head; and a bigger demonstration about information traveling down synapses, represented by balls rolling through chutes.

Balls through chutes! Long-time readers will recognize an obsession of Sam's.

Unfortunately, like two or three others, it wasn't working.

This didn't stop Sam from staring at it, studying it, trying to figure out how to fix it, and even approaching complete strangers to tell them about it and ask for their help. Many times he urged me to talk to the staff (which I did as we were leaving), and we returned twice to the exhibit--I suppose on the off chance they'd sent someone up to fix it.

He really wants to go back. [Update: As of Monday, it was fixed, and Sam fix-ated!]

What else? Had some trampoline time at Katrina Boris' graduation party (fun was had by all); waded in the creek; met some neighbors (Trevor, 4, and Luke, 6, who were splashing each other in the creek in a spontaneous aquatic reenactment of the Civil War); wrote birth-parent letters and repeated Sam's life story to him.

Oh yes. The other picture shows Sam and Susan working on a Lego city for Sam's new snakes. To his meager collection of three tiny snakes from Colorado (Lime, Orange and Lava), he now has several larger snakes, a surprise gift from Aunt Ruth. And Sam hates to see his snakes homeless.

Oh, hey! Can't quit without the Wildlife Update™ . Back in Colorado Marlene almost stepped on a Bull Snake, and again the coyotes came closer to their house this week--Marlene, am I remembering this right?

Of course, while we were gone in Colorado, a black bear wandered into the area. Males come up from the south in warm weather (they really can't come from the north) looking for ursine romance. This guy wandered around the 'burbs, and is expected to head south again in due time. Folks in our church spotted him wandering across the main road into Penfield, heading toward a park we visit from time to time.

Must be the good weather--the wildlife's encroaching from all sides. In the nearby ridiculously named suburb of Chili, a deer burst through a window and ran through a family's house. Ironically, they had recently moved from the city to avoid break-ins. Young Brandon did what anyone of his generation would--shot footage with his cell phone:

"Oh yeah, obviously,” said Brandon Wilson. “I'm a 20-year-old kid just waiting for things to happen. That's why I have that type of phone just in case something does happen. I'm always ready."

Makes me proud to be a Rochesterian. :-)

A good weekend. Hope yours was as well!