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DMNS Dioramas - death to the little ones

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  A mother and her baby (joey), collected and displayed. One of the sad things about scientific collections is that young mammals and birds are also collected. In the famous wildlife dioramas at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, there are numerous examples of young animals being collected. It's important to note that most if not all of these young animals were collected decades ago, when the sentiment regarding the collection of young was not negative. I wonder about the actions and conversations of these collectors of yore. Did they go out looking for young to trap or shoot? Did they wake up in the morning with a "to do" list that included the collection of young wildlife? Did they collect orphaned young as a humane alternative to predation or starvation? Whatever the case, the result is that there are young - some very young - mammals and birds in the dioramas. It's not my intent to chastise these collectors from the 1940s-1970s, but rather to note that colle...

A sampling of Asia on the Anthem of the Seas

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  It was a looong flight to Singapore from Denver, but we settled in for a few days of rest and relaxation before boarding the Anthem of the Seas for a cruise through Asia. Singapore was hot and humid, but it is clean and accessible. We had a couple of days to ourselves, then a couple of tours with friends. Our itinerary on the Anthem was to visit Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taipei, and South Korea, then sail to Japan for a few days. We had a sea day between ports. Compared to Europe, the visa/immigration process was more complicated, but we survived.  Caroline and I quickly settled into our ship routine... the gym, fitness classes, pickleball and table tennis, ukulele, coffee and cards, dinner with friends, and evening shows. We were up at 6 and in bed by 9:30, not the typical cruiser schedule. The first couple of days, the gym is crowded in the morning. But soon, the late nights, with partying and drinking, dancing and gambling, takes its toll, and we have the morning gym practica...