Museum, visitors

We spent most of the day today traveling to and from the Creation Evidence Museum in Genrose, TX with a four hour tour of the museum when we got there from the chief curator. It is by no means a large museum but the fossil displays are centered on the theme of proving creation - specifically from the postulate that man and dinosaurs coexisted from the dawn of creation. I do not know if the evidence of human footprints within dinosaur footprints originated in Dinosaur Valley State Park, jut down the road, but it is the site of many of the overlaid footprints preserved in the limestone bed of the river that runs through the area. That in itself was interesting but what really captured my attention was the scale replica of the ark.

By admission of the curator it took forty years to discover how Noah had built the ark, four years to put the plans in draft form and many months work by three master craftsmen to assemble the model. It seems that “gopher wood” is not a species but rather a process for laminating wood and that “pitch” was a glue made from the resin extracted from the bark of the birch tree. This resin, when heated to a very specific temperature in an anaerobic condition produces a binding agent so strong it is a natural superglue.  If you consider that the “pitch” we know today as asphalt did not exist until after the flood, it makes sense.

In the several pictures I show the water reservoirs that the ark contained. They were massive, egg-shaped structures with internal baffles. Two were located at the ends of the ark and two in the center. If you consider the turbulence of the flood, it would have been necessary for the ark to have had some kind of ballast system. These huge reservoirs, in just such a shape, would have been the perfect answer to the problem. It was fascinating to see the detail and understand that it had all been worked out by referencing portions of the actual ark ruins. It was worth the trip.

Our conference ended tonight and Mama and I are glad to have a couple evenings off to prepare for Nate, Cori and the kids to arrive very late Friday. Norman and Seth are here and will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa for about a week. I think there are plans to work on Victoria’s house and things could move along quickly since the electric is hooked up to the house now. There are trailers and motorcycles to sell and there are jobs to get while they are here but I think helping Grandpa on the house is still part of the package deal. I just hope the forecast is off for this week - rain every day through Sunday.

Victoria is getting worn out by the constant tugging at her but she is handling it fairly well emotionally. Where Mama and I see the toll on her is physically. She is more of the steady-as-she-goes person. The blow-in, blow-up and blow-out style of Norman is a bit much for her at times. We just hope it works to her and Grandpa’s advantage this trip.

Time will tell.