The Academy of Natural Sciences has been an institution in Philadelphia for nearly 200 years.

Generations of kids have walked into Dinosaur Hall and stared up at the skeletons, pressed buttons, dug for fossils, looked at bugs, and wandered past those wonderfully old-school animal dioramas. Then they grew up, had kids, and brought them back to do the exact same things.

At the end of the month, that stops. The museum is closing as attendance has fallen and operating costs have risen, though the Academy’s scientific research and its collection of roughly 19 million specimens will remain. What happens to the museum is uncertain; Academy leaders say they hope public access can return in some form.

That uncertainty is what makes this feel like more than another attraction closing. Philadelphia’s identity isn’t just cheesesteaks and sports teams and the stuff that fits neatly on a tourism poster. It’s also the institutions that have been here so long that generations assume they’ll always be here — the Academy, the Franklin Institute, the Art Museum, the Please Touch Museum. They’re where Philly kids learn, and learn what their city is.

The dinosaurs aren’t just leaving the Parkway. Philly is losing one of the places that helped make us, us.

For 31 years, Cecily Tynan told the Delaware Valley what was coming. On Monday night, everyone already knew the forecast: This was going to hurt a little.

Tynan delivered her final weather report on Action News, choking up as she thanked viewers who had watched her through everything from the Blizzard of ’96 to Superstorm Sandy. She talked about meeting families who had watched 6abc for generations and even young Cecilys whose parents named them after her.

Then Jim Gardner — because apparently this goodbye wasn’t emotional enough already — returned to the studio to send off his longtime colleague (WITHOUT HIS MUSTACHE, let’s not forget to mention).

Cecily wasn’t just there for the giant storms people remember. She was there on thousands of ordinary nights, standing in front of that weather map while families ate dinner, packed lunches, wondered about school the next morning, or decided whether they needed an umbrella. She became part of the routine.

Even Cecily seemed to understand that relationship when she told viewers that although she was retiring, she’d “always be part of the Action News team.”

Every once in a while, another part of Pennsylvania comes up with an idea so stupid that Philadelphia should immediately steal it.

In Dushore, a tiny Sullivan County town of about 450 people, residents have spent the last 26 years racing outhouses down Main Street. The rules require a real toilet seat, four pushers and one person sitting on the throne to steer. Teams have names like Perfect Dump, Steiny’s Heineys, and the Coal Region Turd Herders. There are trophies. People train for this.

Naturally, the question is: Why aren’t we doing this in Philly?

Imagine outhouses flying down the Parkway, preferably with Gritty sitting on the toilet. Put one on the Manayunk Wall if we’re feeling reckless. Neighborhood teams would have to build their own: Rittenhouse vs. Fishtown vs. Delco, which isn’t technically a neighborhood but would absolutely show up with an outhouse anyway. Wawa could sponsor one. SEPTA could enter another.

Dushore drew a crowd several times larger than the town’s population to watch people push toilets up and down the street, and Philadelphia has closed roads for far less compelling reasons.

So bring the Turd Herders to Broad Street!

Netflix is filming a new reality show, The Leftovers, in Seaside Heights with longtime Jersey Shore producer SallyAnn Salsano. They insist it’s not a reboot, which is smart, because you cannot recreate that level of magic.

Jersey Shore gave us GTL, “cabs are here,” Snooki getting arrested on the beach, Ron and Sam fighting about everything, and an anonymous note becoming one of the most important documents ever produced in New Jersey.

You can find another group of hot, messy 20-somethings, but you cannot make them accidentally invent GTL again. Reality TV contestants know too much now. They arrive with Instagram strategies and a preferred angle.

So let The Leftovers be its own beautiful Jersey disaster.

There is only one Snooki. And only one note.

The problem with this particular Phillies team is that we know better.

We have been here before. We’ve watched October end against Arizona, the Mets, and the Dodgers in increasingly creative ways, then spent entire off seasons insisting we would not let these people hurt us again.

And yet, look at us.

The Phillies have won six straight, moved into the top National League wild-card spot, and are suddenly just three games behind Atlanta in the NL East with a four-game series against the Braves this weekend. That is exactly the kind of September setup that makes all those carefully constructed emotional boundaries start to seem a little dramatic.

It helps that Bryce Harper looks like Bryce Harper again. After hitting .333 with a 1.069 OPS in August, he opened September by going 4-for-4 with a walk, extending his on-base streak to 34 games, and pushing his season OPS above .900. Jesús Luzardo is 9-0 on the road. The lineup is finding ways to score without relying entirely on home runs. Even when one part of this team isn’t carrying the night, somebody else seems to be.

This is how they get you. A month ago, October still felt like something to approach with extreme caution. Now the Braves are here, Harper is cooking, and Citizens Bank Park gets four chances at them this weekend.

Fine, the walls are down. We’re all in.