Routine vs. Unusual

Yesterday I got to drive across the causeway that crosses the Great Salt Lake. Some of the people with me were super excited because few people get to do this. I didn't actually know much about it, but it ended up being super cool. It's this embankment of rock, dirt and wood that spans the width of the lake, made entirely by human hand. (I guess there's a cool show about the making of it on youtube but I haven't actually watched it). The whole thing is the width of a traintrack and a dirt road (we took the dirt road). It separates the north and south portions of the lake, with little water flowing between the two sections. Thus, the north is extremely salty and has a bunch of algae that causes the water to look pink. The south is less salty and less red.

looking east across the causeway

The other day I was feeling kind of tired of the work I was doing and my friend told me I had a rough life because I was doing real science and working with 125 Million old dinosaur bones. Like in my hand! It made me realize that because I work in a dinosaur museum, surrounded by fossils, and getting to go into the back room with the special stuff then it had all become routine.
The causeway was cool because it was the first and special time I went.... but I'm sure to the people who drive it frequently it's just a washboard dirt road. The bones were just work because that's what I do every day. It was a good reminder that if we don't work to keep things from being ordinary even the coolest most amazing things can become routine.

Breaking Silence

I have noticed that sometimes the longer a silence goes on the harder it is for me to break it. Almost like the longer there is silence the more emphasis there will be on the words spoken. Like the silence is future exclamation points... and so what I say has to be good! I know this is probably weird, and it's not how I feel all the time but sometimes...
On the other had I've been around some people that after a brief silence, that doesn't seem awkward to me, break it with some almost inane comment about it being awkward. Apparently they don't feel the hidden exclamation points that I apparently do...