It may surprise you to know, but once I dreamed of being an archeologist. It’s true! That was before the Indiana Jones movies, too. It was before I knew I was destined to become a great actress. Oh, and before bowel disease.
Once I developed bowel disease, my dreams changed. Tromping around the desert searching for a toilet and artifacts (in that order) didn’t seem like a great career path. And until today, well, I believed I was right. But I just realized I was wrong. (I was right that I would be wandering the desert looking for a place to poop, though. So I wasn’t completely wrong.)
You see, today’s Washington Post reports that Clifford Coulthard, while looking for a place to go, stumbled onto an absolutely amazing discovery:
“Nature called, and Cliff walked up this creek bed into this gorge and found this amazing spring surrounded by rock art,” archaeologist Giles Hamm told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “A man getting out of the car to go to the toilet led to the discovery of one of the most important sites in Australian prehistory.”
Profile view of Warratyi Rock Shelter elevated above local stream catchment. (Giles Hamm) as printed in the Washington Post article linked to earlier.
as a friend of mine once said, “Civilization all comes down to where you put your poop.”
Think of the discoveries I could have made over the nearly 45 years I’ve been pooping too much!
Shit!
FiftyFourandAHalf 
Well, Trump is now shitting on an entire country… so….
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I know. I’m so angry. So frustrated. So disgusted.
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It is going to get worse before it gets better.
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I know. My husband is on the phone with a close friend from the U.K. They have predicted nuclear war 3xs over in the last 10 mins. I’m going to a friend’s to meet her new puppy.
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That is the only thing to do then.
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I did and it was the best therapy. I highly recommend it.
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I pet every dog and horse I see
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Me too. I don’t see too many horses these days, though. Except at your blog!
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That is so sad
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I drive past them now, but they aren’t where I can stop.
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oh… bummer
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Artifarts can lead to finding artifacts?
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Now why didn’t I think of that line?!?!?
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I’ll admit to being a little gassy at the time I wrote it.
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During a break at a poetry gathering, a bunch of us lined up to use the restroom. One of the ladies who participates is in the beginning stages of dementia, I think. I noticed she vanished from the line and found her in nearby closet about to do her business in a clothes hamper. She was searching in vain for the toilet paper roll. Ooops. Hate to think what the hosts might have discovered had I not stopped her.
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Oh. That’s one of my worst fears … IBD + Dementia = catastrophe! 💩🚽
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You could be a herpetologist. My wife doesn’t like to “go” in the wilds, because she’s afraid she’ll accidentally discover a snake.
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This is the problem with modern civilization. Crapping has become too convenient. We can now throw crap around anywhere and many people think it’s civil. Thank you, Elyse, for reminding us, we may all have crap, but let’s return to trekking into the rock and woods and leaving it with the bears—it has its rewards.
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You missed your calling.
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I know. Sucks!
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One never knows what awaits us when we need to go!
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Sometimes it’s really neat. There was a restaurant in the south of England I “went” to where the walls and the ceilings all along the way had carvings from the 1500’s — I made my husband come and look. “Lease, you want me to follow you to the bathroom?…”
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Hahaha! I can just imagine his reaction!
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And to think how famous you would be today.
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I’d be a veritable household name. Like “Crapper”.
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Perfect!
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Well it certainly fits my mood, I can say that.
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I once found a hand painted mural in the ladies room of an Italian restaurant. It was very nice!
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A fellow traveler! Wonderful!
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