h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dear David,
Well, happy New Years to you and yours. I’m still reeling from the excursion yesterday to the American Museum of Natural History. My cousin donated a rare specimen of his beetles to some Society and had gotten three tickets to the Darwin exhibit, but I’m getting ahead of myself. First we – my sister, cousin, and me; seeing it was a fine day out – walked to 82nd street and had somehow gone through Central Park to the other side where the museums are. The signs impressed me (with Russian art) near the Guggenheim, but Victor marched us onward.

Whereto? We shucked off our sweaters and coats and scarves wrapped around us as we were closed into the sauna that was the butterfly conservatory. Butterflies and moths fluttered everywhere, the blooming plants sprinkled with honeyed water and fruits such as slices of oranges or tangerines attracted more as we gawked at the marvelous splendors of the colors all about us. The workers instructed us not to catch them but to observe. Victor went off to look for some birdwing ones or whatever, I don’t know, didn’t hear him, I was entranced by the variety of butterflies there. Had hoped one would land on me but might be frightened to hurt them, they really appear quite fragile and some part of me is scared of the butterflies too, so agile and swift, and I’ve heard some urban legends about the powders off one species’ wings with the ability to blind and oh, it was all sort of thoughts whirling in my mind but I was dragged off toward the exit as it was almost 3:30 pm when the Darwin exhibit would begin, and it had double doors and a huge mirror into which we looked on our clothing, including our discarded winter garments, for hitchhiking butterflies. For a second the museum guard asked us to skip up and down like fairies and I actually believed him, heh I’m gullible.

Darwin, well, I was surprised to see some of the pottery one branch of his family made was there, I thought they were all scientists but not really I suppose some had to earn the money while others go off to study to their hearts content especially since this was leading up to the industrial revolution in Britain. Anyhow it was interesting how the crew got their fresh meat because one tortoise could yield about 200 or was it 300 lbs and they were easy prey along with the armadillos because of no prior human contact the animals didn’t know to be afraid of the humans. Charles had no objections to dining on armadillo in fact he was in a Cambridge club that ate the animal flesh not “known to human palates” and other delicacies that are exotic. White meat from armadillo is foreign enough if the stomach is not prejudiced, and Charles Darwin was not above sharing his armadillo with the Captain of the ship Beagle but he did write one was not enough to provide a meal for two hungry men they had to suffice. Alright, enough obsession with armadillos, still agree they’re charming and should not be eaten but hey, about the tortoises even back then the sailors and Charles could see how they were being over-hunted and I wonder if it wasn’t the tortoises not so much the Rhea and the ostriches that led Darwin to thinking about the reason behind every species’ diversity in correlation to the species’ survival. I’ve heard about the controversy over banned fox hunting in England by the way, what was all that about?

In the meantime I skipped over some small print about Charles’ grandfather Erasmus though the man led some fascinating clues to evolution himself, Charles was supposed to be a clergyman, can you imagine that – the man whose theory formed the core of sciences as a priest or a person of faith? I’ve nothing against religion, I’m not a believer in anything specific one way or another but I trust to my eyes and mind. I do think we have mercy and reason (conscience) but perhaps I’m just spiritual. At Cambridge, Charles was the favorite pupil of a professor (Argh, I cannot recall his name) he kept asking questions and later had sent many of his botany specimens from the islands to be classified thought then the professor was busy with his own household he did like Charles an awful lot and advised/set up the trip on the Beagle that changed the course of Charles’ life and all. Yes, the role of a mentor was pivotal to the green but aspiring naturalist who was on his sea voyage intrigued with the octopus which was renown at the time but he was so fresh to the field the young Charles didn’t have a clue and once said the hardest thing was to know what’s important and what’s not so he opened his eyes and in wonder observed everything. How inspirational! Every field should have a person like that, just without the coloring of any taught discipline but for one’s own experiences. Including writing, I want to write well I’ve taken classes but look at the folks who just tell their stories from the gut in any way they please and their voices move people to so much.

I’ve also read that since Charles was to be a clergyman the five-year sea journey was dangerous and unnecessary but his father said if Charles could find one man who’d agree with him then he could go and Charles’ uncle is gracious enough to persuade his good brother to let his son pursue his interests. The Captain Fitzroy was a bold young nobleman apparently and to insure the accuracy of his instruments he replaced all the iron cannons to outfit the ship with brass ones out of his own pocket money. Huge temper obviously got into a raging argument with Darwin once Charles wanted to stay behind on an island until Fitzroy apologized and the friends made up. Thought up some outrageous things such as crossing the equator and starting an initiation for the new line-crossers that consisted of shaving the men with a piece of iron for a razor and tar instead of shaving cream. Mad, most likely.

Darwin married and found some peace at Down house where he and his wife Emily who was also his cousin had children, I only noted the girls’ names (sue me as a sexist) Henrietta (David was it you who mentioned a tortoise Darwin named Henrietta was that before or after his daughter was born I’m thinking before since the journey was before but then this means that the tortoise isn’t named after his daughter but rather his daughter’s named after the tortoise which is pretty strange) and Elizabeth (though Liz was more of a shadow figure as she was an ill sickly child and was not mentioned often by the family members). Darwin also suffered from sickness but he was pained by his wife’s anguish at his growing cynicism toward the church and the religion it upholds as his observations proved that all creatures change and it’s not the same from creation if there ever was a creation.

The only things my cousin (men!) seemed to have gotten out of the thing was to poke fun at a Darwin family friend’s surname, Joseph Hooker, sounds so familiar but hey – I’m forgetting why already my memory’s going. Sorry David this was supposed to be brief but I do hope it’s not boring you because I find it so wonderful to write about I haven’t done this in what seems to me like ages hope you don’t mind the mini-rants. I know there are some more odd things I wanted to tell you about Darwin yet I cannot remember what at the moment. Look out for randomness later. Thank the gods I’m typing this up when I got home so that I could at least have captured some of what I thought was interesting, wish I had the forethought to bring along a notepad for the exhibition so it’s not all fragmented and confusing as this is. We brought a digital camera but in the excitement of seeing the iguana we didn’t take any until we stepped out of that section.

To my disappointment we didn’t see the live Galapagos tortoises, or at least I didn’t because I was slow and lagged behind to read all of the little inscriptions about Darwin’s until the time for the Beavers came up which was an interesting movie telling us how the beavers aside from humans changed the world they lived in the most in fact I think we’ve caught the very last showing of the documentary which stopped playing January 1st but anyhow it’s eerie almost how the beavers sounded almost like a child crying out so convincingly at first I though some infant in the Imax theater couldn’t sit still but no, it came from the screen projecting the images of probably the cutest funniest most constructive creatures ever.

Alas, it darkened and the snow on the pavement was sludge. We went to Port Authority to buy tickets; Jas and I were worried they’d be sold out but our cousin told us we live in a remote small town nobody but us would want to return to. Not true! Another person got off at our stop too… provincial indeed :P

We had just watched on TV how New Years was the most popular holiday in Russia to which my big mouthed cousin inserted that it was the only holiday in Russia which wasn’t nice at all but I could definitely imagine Michael my friend from Russia who graduated from our high school last year and is now studying architecture in a school in Canada would have liked Charles Darwin’s seafaring trip on the HMS Beagle, as Mike once professed how his dream when he was little was to explore and discover some place on earth that wasn’t known like Christopher Columbus but then the past men dashed all his hopes when his father gave him a map of the world and all the countries were found already. The idea of venturing out of the inner solar system didn’t appeal to Mike, who was desolate not to join the bands of notorious conquistadors and whatnots. I wonder how he is doing in College now? Oh grief but we’ve lost touch so quickly when we cannot spare a minute to write. Speaking of writing, how are you faring, any great thoughts as of late? As my fellow biology classmate remarked “Isn’t it ironic that the study of a life science is draining the soul of us?” During this week I’ve gotten some sleep under my belt and I feel ready to face the day, hooray.

We didn’t go to the Times Square to watch the coming of the New Years since Jas and I had to be awake to ride the bus home (which we did, earlier today) However, at 11 pm Victor did set up a simulation of the ball dropping with his wooden Kinto sword, much to the chagrin of my dear aunt Yue the second floor neighbors downstairs probably heard the effects too. Tomorrow I have school. Victor was aghast… but it’s a national holiday on the 2nd, how could we have school? He promises to laugh if in the morning I am sitting in an empty classroom with the janitors. Ah me, what a great beginning to the year to run on and on!

Sincerely,
Lily

and I meant 2006