Confirmation

Bluegill

Pandora Sphinx moth

Androgeus Swallowtail

Peppermint

"33 He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish."
                                                                                       1 Kings 4:33 

The above scripture is talking about King Solomon.  We all know that Solomon was the wisest man in the world, filthy rich, and had more wives than any man could hope to have, or probably want to have.  The one thing I never knew about Solomon until the other day however was that he was also a naturalist.

Frequently I have felt like a fish-out-of-water as a nature enthusiast in the Christian crowd.  So many Christians seem to think that God's instruction to have dominion over the earth meant to do whatever they please to the earth, regardless of the consequences. The idea of somebody approaching the earth with a sense of stewardship and scientific interest was usually labeled as worshiping the earth rather than God.  

For a long time I felt a sense of internal conflict about this.  I really felt that God had hard-wired me to have an inquisitive nature about creation.  At the same time, I had heard many a sermon and many a passing comment that nature enthusiasts were evil and wrong and worshiping the wrong thing.

It wasn't but a few years ago that I finally decided that yes, God had hard-wired me this way, that God had built within me a genuine desire to learn as much as I could about creation.  God had created me to want to learn the names of all of the different plants and animals, and to learn the different stories that made each member of creation special and unique, just like me.

I am so pleased to learn that Solomon was given the same interest in the natural world as I.  I feel like I am in good company, and I feel like it is confirmation that my interest in creation is in fact from the Lord.

Colors of the Rainbow

Today was a very colorful day as I visited a place called Hope Furnace.  Hope Furnace is a historic site where people nearly a century ago would smelt iron ore.  Adjacent to the site is a swamp and stream, which if you go far enough eventually attaches to Lake Hope.

I guess I find it a little ironic that I saw the colors of the rainbow today (or near to it) at a site that is largely covered by water.  Afterall, God's promise that he would never flood the earth again is manifested by the rainbow.

The colors of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.  Representing those colors are the red of the Cardinal Flower, the orange of the Sleepy Orange butterfly (the upper wing surface is very orange!), the yellow of the Wingstem (complete with bumble bee!), the green of the not yet ripened Sensitive Fern sporophyll, the blue of the Monkey Flower, and the indigo/violet of the Purple Fringeless Orchid.  I threw in the pink Sweet Water Lily just for fun!

In all honesty, I didn't realize I had all these great colors today until I started looking over my photos tonite. I have to wonder how many really interesting things I miss because my mind is instead on hurrying to get home, or the fact that I forgot to stop at the post office this morning, or that my knee hurts.  I need to do a better job of clearing all that other garbage out of mind, and focusing on the beauty that God has give us.  Do you need to do the same?!

Praising God part 2

The larva that fell from the sky!

Rhododendron

Here a few weeks back I posted Praising God, where I talked about some of my favorite sounds in Creation.  The other day I took my children to Rhododendron Cove south of Lancaster, specifically with the objective of photographing Rhododendron for my One Thousand Flowers project.

As I photographed the beautiful, white-flowered shrub, my children sat down on the moss covered ground and patiently waited for me.  As they sat, a caterpillar fell out of the sky and landed on my son's pants leg.  Actually, I suspect it was a sawfly larva rather than a butterfly caterpillar.  But anyways, I looked up, curious what kind of tree the critter had fallen from.

Above rose a fairly large tree, perhaps 40 feet tall, with toothed, pointy leaves and smooth bark.  Well, there are several different tree species in southern Ohio that fit that description.  The one way to tell for sure was to scratch a twig and smell it.  And when I smelled the scratched twig, I was reminded of one of my favorite smells in Creation, that of Sweet Birch.  Sweet Birch has a very strong wintergreen smell.  I need to research if it is safe to chew on the twigs, because if it tastes like it smells, the flavor would be heavenly.

Out west, my favorite smell was the smell of an approaching rain storm.  In Arizona, as the Creosote bush gets wet it releases a very distinct smell.  The smell is then carried ahead of the storm.  So when one smelled creosote, you knew rain was on the way.  Not only is creosote an appealing smell, it also carried an uplifting message.  While in Ohio we sometimes loathe the rain, especially when it falls everyday for three weeks in a row like it has recently, in Arizona, rain is rejoiced.  The smell of creosote meant something wonderful was about to happen.

What are your favorite smells from Creation?  If you do not have a favorite smell, then you probably need to spend more time in Creation!

Fingerprint of God

The other day I took a trip to Shawnee State Forest in southern Ohio in search of flowers for my One Thousand Flowers project.  In a damp shady spot along Forest Road 5, I found the plant pictured above.  I knew it was a mint of some sort, but otherwise it was unfamiliar to me.

When I returned home later that night, I got busy trying to identify the plant.  It turned out to be Hedge Nettle (Stachys cordata).  While I had been in the field, I had not really paid attention to the purple pattern on the flower, probably because my eyes aren't so good now-a-days.  But as I looked at the photos something suddenly struck me, the purple pattern on the lower lip of the flower looked like an angel.  The lower portion of the design looked like the angel's legs, with the wings reaching up to the top of the petal.  Between the wings, at the throat of the flower, is a pinkish blush (actually a series of very short pink lines), that looks like the angel's head.

In all honesty, I am the type of guy who doesn't normally notice shapes or designs in random things.  I am NOT the kid who laid on his back, staring at the sky, looking at the shapes of the clouds.  My mind generally doesn't work that way.  That is why I found it odd that I so quickly noticed this design.  As I write this, the song "Entertaining Angels" by the Newsboys is running through my mind.

I am convinced that God leaves little clues, little fingerprints behind, to remind us of his glory and handiwork. Let me encourage you to take some time to go out into creation, and look for these fingerprints that God has left for us!

Praising God

As I was driving home today from work, watching out for those who change lanes without looking and tailgate at 70 miles per hour, I sought out a happy place in my mind.  This Sunday's sermon will be about praise, but as I drove down US33, I struggled with finding a praiseful attitude.  This has been a tough week for me.   I read news reports that the gun rights battle wages on, even as a gun zealot pulled a handgun on me, just because he didn't like where I parked my truck.  I had other drivers cutting me off and tailgating me on pretty much a per mile basis.

The only happy place I could find was out in creation, out in nature.  And then what came to my mind was my favorite sounds in nature.  I must admit I am not a big bird chirping fan.  Two of my favorite sounds in nature are the bugling of the elk in early autumn and waterfalls.  My favorite sound in nature may very well surprise you.  It is the sound of a gentle breeze blowing past the spines of the Saguaro cactus.

When I worked at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, Arizona, I would go hiking on the Arizona Trail after work.  The trail was only a couple miles west of the arboretum.  When I would get to the top of the first big hill I would stand, or sit on a large rock, and listen to the wind.  The hill was far enough away that you could not hear noise from the highway; no airplanes flying overhead.  Just the sound of the wind rushing past the spines of the Saguaro.

When I got home tonight, I looked up in the scriptures if that could count as praising God.  What I found was Romans 14:17-18,  " For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸ because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval."  

Being out in creation definitely brings me joy and peace, and this joy is pleasing to God.  So yes, in my Spirit, I am praising God with the joy and peace I am experiencing in my soul.  I do miss my favorite sounds, camping out in my tent as the elk call out in the meadow nearby, or taking a well-deserved rest as the winds kiss the spiny guardians of the desert.  I pray I will discover new favorite sounds here in Ohio.  

I challenge you to find that thing which brings praise to your heart.

Humble Roots

Blue Grama

Bottlebrush grass

Sometimes very important things come in relatively plain packages.  Pictured above is Blue Grama grass and Bottlebrush grass.  There are some grasses that are showy or colorful, but most are relatively dull and unimpressive like the two pictured above.

Yet, the grass family (Poaceae) is probably the most economically important group of plants on Earth.  From the grass family we get oats, rice, wheat, corn, and barley.  For most American families, breakfast and lunch would not exist without a grass.

Jesus is the same way.  He came from very humble roots.  He was born in a manger, surrounded by livestock.  His clothing was not embroidered with gold.  On his final visit to Jerusalem he arrived riding on a colt, not a massive steed ornately decorated.  Yet Jesus was to be the most important person to walk the Earth.

Jesus calls us to be the same.  Not flashy, not calling attention to ourselves, but rather seeking to put others first and to meet the needs of others before pursuing our own needs.  This summer, as you walk through grassy meadows, or drive past them on your various travels, remember what is behind that plain packaging.  It's not a matter of how flashy the packaging, but rather the importance in your life of the gift inside.

What Lurks Beneath the Surface?

Squaw Root

Indian Pipe

Something I have noticed lately is that it is really easy for people to be enticed by pretty packaging, or patriotic rhetoric.  But everything may not be as it seems.  Sometimes as believers we need to step back and dig a little deeper, and research how the packaging or rhetoric stacks up to God's Word.

The Squaw Root and Indian Pipe pictured above, while being attractive plants (or at least I think so), or at least interesting looking plants, are both parasitic.  Meaning they are by some mechanism gaining their nourishment from another plant.  In this case, they are both root parasites, although technically for the Indian Pipe there is a fungus intermediary.  So, while what is above ground is intriguing, what is below ground smells of evil.

We are bombarded with similarly intriguing things in our everyday lives.  But do they stack up to God's Word.  I have a few litmus tests that I use.  First of all, Jesus narrowed all of the commandments down to two (Matthew 22:37-39), love God and love your neighbor.  If the enticement passes the love test, I move on to test number two, found in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

If the enticement passes this test, then my final litmus test is this, Proverbs 6:16-19, "There are six things the Lord hates,
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷         haughty eyes,
        a lying tongue,
        hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸         a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹         a false witness who pours out lies
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."

Once the enticement has passed these three tests, then I am good to go forth and enjoy!  There is a lot floating around our nation right now that is unable to pass these three tests.  Guard yourselves against it and always seek God's truth!

Creation Finds A Way

My son and I went mucking out through a snow covered swamp in southern Fairfield County, Ohio yesterday afternoon looking for Skunk Cabbage flowers as a part of my One Thousand Flowers project.  We did find a few Skunk Cabbage blossoms that were far enough along that they had melted the snow around them so as to be visible to wildflower nerds like me.

After a while my son called out, "Hey dad, check this out."  He brought over to me a Ball jar he had found buried in the snow.  Growing inside the jar was moss, as green and happy as could be.  The jar had been laying on its side.  My bet is that the jar was acting like a little greenhouse, adding just enough heat to make the moss happy!  We returned the jar to its original location.

I guess it reminds me of Proverbs 30: 24-28,

“Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces."

I find it so interesting how Creation always seems to find a way.  We litter our world with a variety of things, yet Creation is flexible enough to work with it; to make due with the available resources and use those resources to its advantage.  Just like this little moss, taking advantage of an unintended greenhouse.  Perhaps in our own walks through life, we would be well served by exercising a little flexibility and wisdom, much like these smallest members of Creation!

To learn more about my One Thousand Flowers project visit: http://www.gofundme.com/1swe8s

Much Like All of Us!

The blooming of the Skunk Cabbage is on the horizon.  Normally this plant blooms more towards late February.  This year it seems a little ahead of schedule.  I checked my favorite Skunk Cabbage patch last weekend and I estimate that patch is about a 7-10 days away from blooming.

The flowers are quite spectacular, with a large maroon-colored spathe surrounding a short and stubby spadix, where the actual reproductive structures are housed.  Currently the spathe is exposed above the slimy muck of the swamp this plant calls home, but the spathe has not opened quite yet to reveal the spadix.

Skunk Cabbage is called Skunk Cabbage because the vegetative part, which looks all the world like a big leafy cabbage and appears after the blooms fade, smells something awful.  Tear off a piece of leaf and give it a smell.  It will be an experience you will soon not forget!

Back to the flower though, once the spathe opens, the process of decomposition begins at the base of the spathe.  This decomposition, like most decomposition, produces a foul odor.  The reason is to attract pollinators, in this case most likely flies and beetles.  Most bees aren't flying in early February!  This decomposition also generates heat, which of course will also attract flies and beetles trying to get in out of the cold.  Sometime try taking a thermometer and comparing the air temperature to the temperature inside the spathe and you'll see what I mean.

While there is rottenness in the Skunk Cabbage flower, obviously there is some good things about it too.  It provides a home for insects.  It is beautiful to look at.  It adds color to an otherwise dreary Ohio winter day.  The Skunk Cabbage is kind of like people.  Pretty much all of us have some kind of rottenness inside of us (called sin).  But at the same time, we are capable of doing wonderful things for others, and cheering up someone's otherwise dreary day.  I think too often we are guilty of judging folks by their rottenness, rather than trying to build upon their good.  God calls upon us to love each other, despite the stink in our attitudes, words, or clothing. 

Only by focusing on the good will you be able to remove the stink!

From Death, Life

As I have mentioned before, I am obsessed (ok, I'll use the 'O' word!) with all of the many, varied, wonderful forms of life that we can find living around us.  While I do not worship Creation, I am certainly enthralled by it.  Bugs, plants, big animals, little animals, even fungus, I find all of it so very cool!

From a Christian perspective, I view fungus sort of like baptism (now I have your attention, eh!).  Romans 6:4 states, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."  Out of death comes new life, which is the life story of a fungus.  From a dead, rotting piece of wood, some of the most beautiful creations in nature come to life.  I know not everybody agrees on the beauty of a fungus, but you have to admit the coral fungus above is pretty darn cool!

Romans 6:4 is talking about baptism.  As we are dunked in the water, we are symbolizing Christ's death, and resurrected out of the water as a new life.  Just as God uses the fungus above in the grand scheme of things, He uses us as well.  The fungus has the purpose of speeding along decomposition.  He has a purpose too, I would argue uniquely selected by God, for each of us.  And God considers both the fungus and us as beautiful.  Anything that fulfills His will is beautiful.  And it doesn't really matter if we have come from a rotting piece of wood.  God doesn't care about your past, just your future!

By the way, regarding the fungi pics, the top is a Coral Fungus, the middle is Scarlet Cup, and the third is a species of Mycena.  By the way, some Mycena are bioluminescent, meaning, they glow in the dark.  How cool is that!

One Thousand Flowers

Large-flowered Trillium

As my friends know, I am obsessed with learning about nature.  Twenty-seven years ago I was finishing my forestry degree at Northern Arizona University.  At the time I had a collection, one of the few students who did, of all of the trees, shrubs, and grasses that we had been required to learn during the four years of the degree.  I kept these pressed specimens in a big blue binder.

That mentality has not changed over the years.  That one blue binder has now grown to three rubbermaid tubs, about the size of bath tubs, that house nearly 3000 pressed specimens.  In recent years, I have also taken interest in other things, such as moths, grasshoppers, etc, as you know if you have been following this blog.  I now use the camera to document things, rather than collecting specimens.  Over the past couple years I have tried to focus my efforts on studying a particular group of organisms each calendar year.  So, for example, in 2011, that focus was butterflies, and was documented in my book Butterfly Rider.

In 2013, I am going to make my focus on plants in a project I am calling One Thousand Flowers.  I will attempt to photo-document 1000 species of plants, and I am going to focus this search throughout Appalachia.  Much like I did with the butterfly year, I want to write a book and design a calendar as products of the One Thousand Flowers project. 

However, I want to make this something bigger than just me.  I have a real heart for Appalachia.  My family has lived in Appalachia since the 1860's.  My idea of art is the shapes of the cut-outs on the outhouse door!  So I am going to try also to document the Appalachian way of life, and the poverty that is found throughout Appalachia.  In addition, I will donate half the profits from any book/calendar sales to Appalachian ministries that try to help Appalachian people out of poverty.

I am giving people the opportunity to participate in this project in a variety of ways.  I have developed a website where people can donate money to the effort.  To achieve 1000 species, I will need to do some traveling on my days off.  Donations of friends and supporters will help fund this travel.  Visit this website for more information: http://www.gofundme.com/1swe8s

Of course, I understand that times are tough financially for a lot of my friends.  If you cannot support me financially, I would absolutely appreciate your support in the form of encouragement and enthusiasm.  At least four places in the New Testament we are called to encourage one another, and I fully intend to hold my friends to this Christian mandate!  One way you can encourage the project is by sharing about it within your own circle of friends.  I know I am not the ONLY person in this country who is a nature nerd! 

Another way you can show your support will be by staying tuned-in via this blog or my facebook page to my adventures.  Your support really does help encourage me.  One thousand species is a lot, and I will need encouragement.  And, I thank you in advance for your support, whatever form it may come in!

Rest and Rejuvenation

I am not especially fond of winter.  Winter tends to be wet, and cold.  I do not like to be neither wet nor cold, let alone both at the same time!   I do not like driving, walking, or skating on ice.  If you have seen the movie Cool Runnings, when Dareese first tells Sanka about the idea of getting together a Jamaican bobsled team, Sanka's response to it is much like my response would have been.  When told that bobsledding was essentially driving a push cart down an icy shoot, Sanka said, "ICE!  As in snow and cold and ICE!  Forget it!"

However, winter has its place and is a part of God's planning.  Winter is a time of rest and rejuvenation.  Trees go dormant (not DEAD!), taking a break prior to the big rush of growth that will happen in the spring.  Animals find a nice cozy den and sleep off the fat they stored up in the fall.  Even some species of butterflies go into a sort of hibernation.  The Eastern Comma is among the handful of butterflies that ride the Ohio winter out as adults, tucked behind loose bark or in dense brush piles, just waiting for spring.

We all need a period of rest and rejuvenation.  Our bodies are simply not meant to be on high alert all the time.  GO, GO, GO tends to lead to high blood pressure, ulcers, back pain, and a host of other medical issues. 

Winter also has its own sort of beauty.  While I do not like to drive in snow, I can certainly recognize the beauty and perfection of a snow covered field, not yet spoiled by footprints or an icy crust.  I can also find humor in the snow.  The photo below, while being very simple, holds a very wonderful memory for me.  My youngest daughter and I were hiking at Conkle's Hollow SP in Hocking County, Ohio, a few Decembers back when she suddenly declared, "Look Daddy, a toilet!"  I nearly cried from laughing so hard. 

Use this winter to rest weary bones and a weary spirit.  Find humor in unlikely places.  Spring is just around the corner!

The Miracle of Life

As I write this, one of my former junior high students is in the process of having a baby.  She is kind enough to post updates on facebook!  I taught her in 6th and 7th grade, several years ago.

The miracle of a new life is always amazing.  And while human babies can be amazing, I think butterfly babies are really amazing.  Butterflies undergo complete metamorphosis.  This basically means the butterfly baby looks nothing like the adult will look.  When a butterfly mama lays an egg, and a caterpillar hatches from that egg, that caterpillar is entirely on their own.  Any nurturing that the mother butterfly provided was accomplished through the selection of the spot to lay the egg.  Imagine, being a 2 millimeter long caterpillar out there in the great big world all by yourself.

God has created some interesting mechanisms to keep these little guys safe.  Some are toxic like the monarch caterpillar.  Others have evil looking spines and barbs, like the Gulf Fritillary caterpillar in the pic below.  Some have what look like big scary eyes (like the Spicebush Swallowtail) to scare away predators.  Others blend in perfectly, like the Giant Swallowtail caterpillar which looks like a glob of bird poop.

This caterpillar will eat and eat and grow and grow until it transforms into a chrysalis.  I like to think of caterpillars sort of like junior high boys.  As a chrysalis, the butterfly is very vulnerable, yet God designed them in such a way to help them stay safe.  Some are green, looking like a rolled up leaf.  Others are brown, looking like a twig or peeling piece of bark.  The Glasswing butterfly of the tropics has a chrysalis that looks like a glistening drop of water. 

Eventually, an adult butterfly crawls out of the chrysalis, and will shortly be able to fly away, and avoid predators using flight.  But in the meantime, God's wonderful creativity gave it a better chance to survive.  God finds creative ways to keep us safe as well.  God finds creative ways to allow us to be productive members of His kingdom.  Never question God's creative ability to work miracles in your life!


Spiny Gulf Fritillary caterpillar



Gulf Fritillary adult

Droplet-like chrysalis of the Glasswing butterfly