To Be A Fossil

I read a great story the other day. I would like to share it with you.

My nine year old grandchild told me she wants to become a fossil. I looked t her and asked her if she wants to have a fossil watch. No…she meant that she wants to be a fossil when she dies.

I told her that many things have to happen if she is to become a fossil. It would be no good for her to die in a granite pile and only 15% of rocks can preserve fossils. I suggested she get on the internet and find out as much as possible between now and her death so she knows where to die.

Two hours later and 42 cases of new spyware on my laptop later she came and asked me what sediment was. She intends to be laying in sediment when she dies. That way she would leave an impression. I told her that nobody would find her fossil remains for hopefully tens of millions and maybe hundreds of millions of years later. Of course she really does not have a concept of a million.

So today I took a break with her and we studied fossils. We found out that 99.9% of all living things compost down to nothingness. I looked at her sparkling eyes and told her that when her spark is gone she will be nibbled off or sluiced away to become part of some other system. She asked if I was sure and I reassurred her that I was correct. Even if she makes it into the small pool of organisms; she has a less than 0.1% chance of being fossilized. She would be devoured by other organisms.

At the end of the conversation she decided to be a dancer instead. After that she would write a book that the people could read in a million years. I thought that was a swell idea and asked her what her book will be about. It will be about dancing, her dog and fossils.

So in a million years or even 20 years when you see a book about a little dancing girl with a dog who wants to be a fossil, please buy it.
Over and out! See you all tomorrow…