“…there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This morning a small procession of bird skeletons made its way from the science building to the library: one last flight for the calcified remnants of wild lives that ended on windshields and picture windows in and around Sewanee. These skeletons are the result of the work of students in my Ornithology class, each of whom received a bird carcass at the beginning of the semester. The students have now cleaned and articulated the skeletons. Their work is on display within the belly of David Henderson’s Brief History of Aviation sculpture.

These unclothed cousins of ours reveal the relationship between unity and diversity in biology. The tension between these poles is what animates life: one theme, many variations.

Many thanks to Kevin Reynolds and the staff of duPont library for their fabulous help with this project and to David Henderson for letting my students use the remarkable space that he has created.