Happy Holidays!

My day's clothing choice that started all the trouble.

My wife Karen, who keeps track of such things, tells me today is both National South Dakota Day and National Dueling Dinosaurs Day! I can connect them.

Not everyone knows that I spent my childhood in Rapid City, South Dakota. We moved to California when I was 11. I've always been proud and happy I was raised in the Midwest--I think it gave me a solid core that made me better--but also glad we left when we did. The West has a lot more opportunities for a teen and young adult.  

South Dakota is also where paleontologists have found a lot of dinosaurs, dueling and otherwise, which is a real point of local pride. In fact, high on a ridgetop above Rapid City is Dinosaur Park, topped by concrete dinos built by the WPA in the 1930s, which I remember from my childhood and revisited with my family in 2008. 

At Dinosaur Park, Rapid City, S.D. in 2008. Somewhere there exist photos of me in that same spot at the age of 4. If you're ever in the area, pay a visit. Can't miss it; just look for the apatosaurus looming over the city.

One of the wellsprings of dinosaur fossils is the Badlands National Park east of Rapid City, a geological wonderland I visited many times as a kid (don't miss the famous Wall Drug Store!). I happened to get up and put on a Badlands shirt this morning, which is why Karen told me about National South Dakota and Dueling Dinosaurs Day, which is why I wrote this post and that's the Circle of Internet Life. 

Celebrate as you see fit.

Dueling Dinosaurs at Disneyland. My understanding is that these two species were actually separated by tens of millions of years and never would have faced off in real life. Real life can be a real buzzkill sometimes.