The Bone Museum does almost exactly what it says on the box - a museum, very scientific, about bones, but specifically human bones: lots of full skeletons, dozens of human skulls, a whole wall of spinal columns.
I think of myself as having a fairly strong constitution, but for just a second as we enter, my stomach flips, then settles. Some of the bones are from people who were not in the best health - vicious bone spurs, lace-like decay from infections and cancers, gnarled knots where breaks healed improperly, coral blooms of arthritis - and some quite healthy, though it didn’t seem to matter much now, either way.
They hand us a small rib and a section of a femur to hold, and I find myself thinking kindly about these people that once were, and about how lucky I am to still be wandering the earth, messing around and looking at bones.
No comments:
Post a Comment