I've been thinking a lot lately about bones. The instances are rather unrelated and disjointed, but perhaps there is some sort of connection. Perhaps not.
First I have discovered the TV show Bones. It's about the adventures of a forensic anthropologist who goes around solving murders with the FBI. I am surprised, even shocked that I like this show. It's graphic, viewer discretion advised, somewhat disturbing..but at the same time delightful. I am fascinated by the science, the ability to identify, classify and learn from tiny details. To reconstruct someones life just from studying their bones. It's like our body is a journal. The bones remain to tell the story.
Second I read the book "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. This is a book about life, death, and continuing. (It is also quite disturbing and I can't believe I enjoyed it as much as I did. I guess I am either becoming hardened, jaded, or just maturing perhaps). It is the story of a family and the life that they build around the reality of their daughters murder. Not to let the event define them, but to let go, and although its a part of them, move on. The story is told by the dead daughter. As she watches her family come together in happier times she says "These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections--sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent--that happened after I was gone."
Third, I homeschool two of my sons and my third grader has been learning about the skeletal system in his science class. Two things fascinated me during the studying of this unit. First, bones are alive...they grow, regenerate, and can become diseased. Second, bones are useless without muscles.
So now I am trying to draw some conclusion, make some sort of connection but nothing is staring me in the face as obvious. So take from these ramblings what you will and *make no bones about it. :)
*This term means to have no objection to or state in a way that allows no doubt. It actually dates back to 15th century England and is a reference to the unwelcome discovery of bones in soup - bones = bad, no bones = good. If you found 'no bones' in your meal you were able to swallow it without any difficulty or objection. (http://www.phrases.org.uk/)
