At the museum the other day I was having a discussion about Madagascar Hissing cockroaches with some kids. Not really expecting them to know (they all looked to be under ten years of age), I asked if anybody knew where Madagascar was. None of the kids knew. One of the parents piped up in the background, "it's off the coast of Chile, isn't it?" I replied that it wasn't. It soon became evident that a good number of the adults didn't know where it was either. Somebody finally got it right. Another adult said, "so it's near the Galapagos islands then..." This would, of course, put the Galapagos islands quite some distance from their actual location off the coast of Ecuador. I wonder how much this lack of knowledge amongst the parents ends up stunting the knowledge of their children. I can even remember teachers I had in elementary school who got facts wrong. Then again, not knowing where the Galapagos islands are can be understood. The world is a big place, most of which is ocean. There are thousands of islands out there.
Not knowing what the Galapagos islands are, however, cannot be forgiven. I still remember the incident clearly. I was in a bookstore, and I overheard a child asking his mother about a particular book. I turned and saw the mom holding a large, coffee-table book called "Galapagos". I think it had a Marine iguana on the cover. It appeared to be some sort of photo essay on the islands.
The kid looked up at his mom and asked, "what does "Galapagos" mean?"
The mother smiled down at her child and replied, "I dunno. I think it's the name of the photographer."

I should have said something, but I didn't. I was too shocked.

That was years ago, but still fresh in my mind. Earlier today, I saw a man almost get hit by a large, rusted old pickup truck. He was walking across the road carrying something - car parts, maybe... He stepped right into the path of the oncoming truck, causing the driver to stomp on the brakes. As I passed by, I overheard the man yell, "you can't harm me! I'm Superman!"

I hadn't recognized him without his costume. He really blends in with us average, everyday folk. I guess that ability can come in handy when you're fighting those crafty supervillians.

Animals spotted tonight: one Night heron, nine egrets, and one very confused little gopher.

cds listened to while trying to spot more superheroes: Nick Drake "Bryter Layter", Dunwich "Il Chiarore Sorge Due Volte" and "Eternal Eclipse of Frost", Dvorak "Symphony No.7, etc.", Earth "Extra-Capsular Extraction", and Eden "Healingbow" and "Gateway to the Mysteries"

now: Popul Vuh "Agape-Agape"