How often we bemoan that the suffix "-ix" is slowly leaving the language, as in aviatrix (Amelia Earhart, of course, being the most famous of the avatrices). The "-ix" words are fusty, yes, but fun. So we happily stumbled up The Excavatrix, a nicely titled blog about a fascinating topic: what's being dug up next to the La Brea Tar Pits.
Because, of course, the tar pits are still bubbling away, and bones are still being unearthed, and discoveries are being made. It's life and history and wonder in action, right in the heart of our city, even as we wait at lights and curse bad drivers and get apoplectic when the cable goes out for five minutes.
The Excavatrix has been focusing on Project 23, the latest, headline-garnering big dig that is turning up all kinds of sloth-y, lion-y artifacts that further contribute to the picture of what lived here long before we humans all started renting and laying down asphalt and opening cafes. We're liking the blog's lively, insider tone, and how even a lay person -- aka *not* an excavatrix -- can understand the science.
Read it, enjoy it, and get down to the pits to get an eyeful. In other words, stop being a sloth and go visit the sloths. The pits are free to visit, and though the Page Museum next door charges admission, the bone-y bastion is free the first Tuesday of the month. Makes dealing with all the minor contemporary annoyances a bit easier, knowing that lions -- lions! -- roamed where people now buy baseball caps and sugar-free soda.
