Old friends

So you might well wonder why on Earth I need a whole year to learn how to count bullet holes. This is a valid question. I think there are a couple answers to the question "why is a forensics fellowship a year long?"

Firstly, it's the shortest unit of time that seems to be recognized by boards. I don't think there's anything out there shorter than a year. Secondly, I think there's a lot that I'm still not going to know at the end of the year, not the least of which is how to avoid the traps that seem to loom all around me in my imagination, arranged around the general theme of "imaginary defense attorneys trying to make me look/feel stupid in public." But the thing I really feel myself learning is the feel and look of normal organs. At this point, no one has to tell me that the lungs are congested or the liver is fibrotic or the heart is pale/scarred or the brain is too soft for this postmortem interval. These organs and I are old friends by now-- familiar enough to feel too heavy in my hand or to catch my attention with a slight change in their usual shade of pink.