I had heard about the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California for years,
but when I finally got there, I was not prepared for how immense it is. The place is like a theme park for aquatic
life.
Tanks with jellyfish, which some people consider edible:
Tanks with sand dollars, which seem to like to stand
vertically:
Tanks with anemones, which are venomous:
And a tank with an octopus, which does not like to be
flashed:
I was not prepared for how immense the Monterey Bay
Aquarium is, and I was not prepared for how expensive it is: $40 for an adult, $25
for a kid. That meant a
family of five spent $155 to get in. I looked around; the place was overrun with kids.
One thing I was prepared for: I knew that when I left the
aquarium, I would have no interest in eating seafood.
I blame that on my mother.
Our sixth-grade class went on a field trip to the
American Museum of Natural History in New York City, one of the largest museums
in the world. Much to my disappointment,
we were not going to the Hall of Dinosaurs.
Our teacher took us to the Hall of Fishes.
None of the fishes in the Hall of Fishes moved, because they
were all models. They sat in dioramas or
were fastened to the wall. I dutifully
looked at all the dioramas because our teacher wanted us to, but the exhibits
seemed stale. Our hometown was
surrounded by salt water on three sides, and the Hall of Fishes was noticeably lacking
in the feel of walking on a sand beach, the sound of waves lapping the shore, the
smell of salt air.
Having dutifully looked at dioramas, our sixth-grade
class went into the American Museum of Natural History cafeteria to eat the
lunches that our mothers had packed for us. I
opened up my lunch bag and found that my mother had made me a tuna fish
sandwich.
Mom!!!!! How could
you do this to me?
I had just seen a life-size model of a tuna fish attached to the
wall of the Hall of Fishes. I couldn’t
possibly eat tuna fish for lunch.
Nobody in my sixth grade class would trade sandwiches
with me. I went hungry that day.
- . - .- . - . - .
Shirley Temple had a great time at the Codfish Ball
(4-minute video). Lobsters dancing in a
row shuffle off to Buffalo…
- . - .- . - . - .
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