Happy Earth Day!

Greetings Fellow Passengers of Space-ship Earth!

We are traveling on the most beautiful and amazing vehicle in the cosmos.  If you are not already aware of this fact, it is time to look about and see the miracles which surround you, everyday.

Scarlet Wax-cups, unite.  Fungus- rule the world!

 Even before the microscope, men of science knew of the powerful effects created by things we could not even see.  Spores of fungus are barely perceptible to the human eye. Yeast for example, gives us bread and beer; it makes our world a wonderful place! 

Often the tiniest organisms have the most profound impacts!  Virus and bacteria can make or break us. The bite of our smallest- pepper sized- tick can infect man with a disease that can rule his life and ruin his health. The Black Death, bubonic plague, was transmitted by fleas.  A bacteria or virus can wipe out an entire species of trees or people, for that matter.

Trees are living history.

We take for granted our trees.  Yet, they are our historians, telling us of conditions of the land and the people who came before us.  Some lands were tended by native peoples. Consider the prairie remnant at Daughmer Prairie, which is crowned with a grove of burr oaks.  Fire was used to clear the lands, providing new grazing for Bison, and these trees remain to tell that history.  The thick bark of Burr Oaks protected the trees from being consumed by fire. These sentinels remain.

Some mountain top trees tell of 600-1000 years of weather and rocks which twist and stunt their growth.  Some trees, or the lack thereof, tell of man's disregard for ecosystems and his desire to exert his will to profit from the land. Even to the detriment of other humans.  

"This land is our land." Will we continue to frack it, hack it and consume it until it can no longer support our species?  

Rufous Hummingbird is featured on a Google Doodle today.

I would rather join Google and celebrate its diversity in life forms.  I hope you will check out today's Google Doodle and watch the animal life parade.

Veiled Chameleon also appears.

Click on https://www.google.com/ to see the clever show and then treat yourself to the breath taking photos at My Beautiful Earth.  The beauty of this planet is beyond my meager descriptions.  Our diverse ecosystems and biomes, countries and cultures are worth celebrating.

And please remember, there is no Planet- B.

Let's be good neighbors.  We are all in this together.

Respect the plants and animals that were here before us.  Be good stewards of the land.  Pick up after yourself and don't poison your neighbors, friends and family with chemicals.  Earth was a garden of Eden, before man came along.