Dragon Teeth

   When I was in 4th grade, I gave a book report that was almost certainly exceptional.  I'd read Michael Crichton's Sphere, and I did a book report in rap, complete with backwards hat.  It is one of the countless memories that I have where I give thanks that video recordings were relatively rare at the time.  

  I recount this merely to say that I've been reading Michael Crichton books for a long time, and I generally enjoy them.  I remember Sphere being a little strange, but I loved Jurassic Park, and I remember the second Jurassic Park (The Lost World) being phenomenal, while the second Jurassic Park movie was, perhaps, less than phenomenal.  My all-time favorite Michael Crichton book is The Great Train Robbery, which is on a very, very, very short list of books that I've read more than once.  Of the 498 books that I've read since 2011, there are less than 5 books that I've read multiple times.  

  Caleb and I stopped by the library to pick up some Diary of a Wimpy Kid books for him the other day, and I saw Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton.  I'd never seen it, so I grabbed it, and read it the other night.  It's a wild book, a mix of fact and fiction, with a college student who ends up joining a summer archaeological expedition to Montana on a bet.  It's at the time of George Custer's defeat at Little Bighorn, otherwise known as not a great time to venture out west, and it is set amongst a rivalry between two college professors who are attempting to sabotage each other's expeditions to secure lasting fame for themselves.

  When I was getting ready for bed, having finished around 3/4 of it, I told myself that I'd finish the rest in the morning.  Then I crawled into bed... and made the mistake of picking it back up, because I couldn't leave it without knowing how it ended.  Wyatt Earp makes an unlikely appearance, and my takeaway is that so often, we're caught up in things bigger than ourselves.  All we can do is control what we can control, care for the people immediately surrounding us, and try to make it through, recognizing that we're all bound to get caught up in the world's chaos from time to time.  It often doesn't seem fair, but we still have to deal with life as it comes, not necessarily as we want it.  As a Christian, I truly believe that one day I'll be able to look back and make more sense of things, but in the short-term, I have to trust God and stay faithful, day by day, even when I don't fully grasp what's going on.