Megalodon and Other Career Dreams.

In the past few weeks I have been exposed to a perfect storm of sorts.  I am reading Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us, a 1952 classic scientific romance. The print is small and densely loaded on the yellowed pages that tear easily from the glued spine of the hand-sized paperback-and I LOVE it! During this time we went to H. E.'s family camp on the Union River in Trenton, Maine.  The Union is a tidal river and at low tide lies an amazing portal to an otherwise unseen marine world. An in situ touch tank of krill, anenomes, urchins, starfish, large crabs, and even squid! I'm sure there were other creatures who observed us even as we were blind to them.  This trip was followed by  Discovery Channel's "Shark Week".  The theme of which for me, distilled down to great photography /videography and Megalodon.

An assortment of images from these experiences, real and imagined creep into my mind's eye throughout the day and more than once have kept we awake at night, not in a nightmarish way, but with full -on curiosity and excitement.

Add to this some career/right-livelihood exploration and Viola...a long buried part of me has come a calling.  When I was growing up, I envisioned myself a scientist, a researcher...more specifically a palentologist and then a marine biologist.  It struck me this morning, for my 12 year old self, the perfect job would be a marine paleontologist! Starting with the Paleozoic era and Cambrian period.  Alas, I am no longer 12 years old, but reading Ms. Carson's poetic descriptions about the birth and trials of the oceans and seas on Earth and the evolution of life in these waters is, hopefully leading to a personal evolution and adaptation to a better, stronger, more physically, fiscally and worklife fit me.