Gadfly's Muse

Wildlife Management

Every once in a while Nature reminds us that we need to be a bit more humble.  It really isn't up to us to fix everything.  Perhaps we ought to be open to the idea that some of our "solutions" are only the foundation for some other, different problem.

The beaver dam in the foreground was about as impressive as I have ever seen.  The water drop was at least three feet.  Also, if you look closely you can see two beaver condominiums which were hundreds of yards behind the dam.  This whole flat land had been converted into a wonderful little wildlife habitat by some of nature's best engineers.  So, maybe we ought to learn that wildlife management might be best attained by letting the wild life manage.

I recall the oath that stretches all the way back to Hippocrates (I think)... Physician, do no harm.  Maybe if we adopted that for our own individual and corporate lives in the beautiful land God has given us, then we might see some improvements for both us and the creatures.   It really shouldn't be that hard.

It's a Bird! It's a Moth! It's a Moth That Looks Like A Shrimp!

(Hummingbird Moth, JAVanDevender, 2008)

Click for larger image

for more info on these insects go HERE
Hemaris Thysbe - Sphingidae family
Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth.

Here is the first of these creatures I have ever seen.  I did not even know they existed until I started hearing stories about one feasting on our butterfly bush.

They are more restless than even hummingbirds and it was not easy to get even this picture.  I thought the curved spout was extraordinarily interesting.  This little guy was not very afraid of me and I was able to get closer than my lens would focus on a couple of occasions.  I had to stay with the large lens though because he moved so much that a shorter, faster lens would not have given me many opportunities.

Anyway... this one was just fun and I thought you might get a kick out of it also.

Mornin' Glory.... His mercy is new every morning.

(Mornin' Glory, 2008 JAVanDevender, Click for larger image)
 
Exodus 16:4-8  
4 Then the LORDsaid to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.  5 "And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."  6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, "At evening you shall know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt.  7 "And in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD; for He hears your complaints against the LORD. But what are we, that you complain against us?"  8 Also Moses said, "This shall be seen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the LORD hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD."

Ipomoea nil (Ipomoea is New Latin from the Greek ips (worm) and homoios (resembling) = resembling a worm, perhaps referring to the plants tubers) is an unlikely name for a common flower.  This one is easily bypassed and not often really noticed exactly because it is so common.  And yet, when we pause to look at it, growing in enthusiastic profusion amidst the other weeds along the road, there is a bit of perfection in it.  The shade of blue is somewhere deeper than a robin's egg but still delicate and unobtrusive.  The petals surround the white center and the stamen is almost invisible in its blending.  Truly it is a morning glory.  All too often we take glory for granted.

Perhaps the Morning Glory can teach us to remember the Lord and His blessings in the awakening hours of the day.  The Israelites were told they would see the glory of the Lord when he poured forth the blessings of food, manna from heaven, in response to their complaint of hunger.  Pretty soon they grew tired of that same manna when it too became common, yet every day the miracle was renewed, every morning gave witness to the love of God for His people.

Each day the Lord continues to furnish us with what we need.  Each day there is the miracle of His restraint in withholding judgment on our sin, allowing us opportunity to repent (Rom. 2), and beyond that, opening the treasures of heaven to furnish us with the invigorating nourishment of His Spirit as well as His Providence.  Truly the Glory of the Lord is beautiful every morning.  How much better would our day progress if we started it humbly, on our knees, opening our hearts like the Morning Glory flower to the awakening day and the Son who rises in it in our lives?  Perhaps, like that flower, in doing so, our lives might become beautiful also, living testaments of thanksgiving to our awesome Creator, Savior and Lord.

And Now... Stepping Into The Spot Light....

  (2008, Mantis_JAVanDevender, click for a larger image)

This little guy was TOUGH to shoot! He is perhaps 1 1/2 inches long and he kept hiding behind leaves. Positioning the camera so as to get a a full body pic took some doing since the entire plant is one of my son's bonsai efforts and is only about a foot tall. But finally, almost as if he was waiting for the cue, he stepped into a spot of light and gave me look as if to say... "OK, is this what you want?" Focus is not as sharp as I would like but I took what I could get.

Our backyard is flourishing this year and is awash in all kinds of colors. Some years are like that. In a previous year my wife has watched a Mantis throughout the whole Summer as he grew into a relatively huge sample. She nurtured him and as the winter approached and he declined and finally died, there was genuine regret. They are wonderful creatures and I would love to have about another hundred of them to help with the mosquito problem.

So, the spotlight is on... take a bow little guy and enjoy your short time here on this earth. I suppose that is something we all might do well to remember. We each step into the light for a time, do the works God has ordained from all eternity that we are to walk in (Eph. 2:10) and then pass on.  It's a good plan... as a wise man once said, it's even beautiful.

Ecclesiastes 3:10-13 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. 12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor -- it is the gift of God.

"You're Nothing But A Common Tease(l)!

 (2008, JAVanDevender_Common Teasel& Bee, click for larger version)

I suppose, with some imagination, you could put those words in the bumblebee's mouth.  With a name like "Common Teasel" one wonders of what an uncommon one would consist?

I have been happy to observe multitudes of bees this year, both Bumbling and the real Honeys.  I know that Sudden Colony Collapse disorders as well as the various parasite infestations though out the nation have been causing quite a concern for honeybee populations.  I don't have any answers but if there is any insect on which the entire ecological system depends it probably is the bee.   I love to see them at work.

What interests me about the Teasel is its interesting shape.  Tall, awkward, prickly stalks suddenly explode into a bulbous flower/seed cluster.  Along the road (where else) where I took this shot, there was a mass of them.  They blend into the background fairly easily and if you are not specifically attentive to  the flora flowing past your windows, they would be easily missed.  Yet, when you take a moment and look a bit more closely at them, they have their own allure.  Interestingly enough the Teasel family has been used for a bunch of very practical things - a fuller's brush (for all you wool weavers out there), a natural antibiotic, treatment of Lyme's disease, aid for blood circulation, a cure for warts and an eyewash (from Wikipedia).  Now there's something worth keeping.

For me... it's another installment in the continuing wonder of God's creation.  All the different shapes and sizes... the variety of colors and the spectrum of hues within those colors... the interplay of flora and fauna, natural and mutually complementary... harmonious diversity as a single brush stroke in the Creator's Masterpiece.

But you gotta stop the car to see it.

Moth Mullein????

(2008-JAVanDevender)

I really am not sure about this one. It kind of looks like the Moth Mullein pics in my Field Guide but the stalk and leaf arrangements are a bit different.  The leaves are serrated and veined which does give further support for it being so, but I'm not certain.

There was a photographer who became famous by publishing a book of black and white photographs of Service Stations along Rt. 66.  I seem to be headed toward remaining unknown but cursed with a compelling desire to photograph weeds and flowers along the road. 

One of these days someone will find me with tread marks across my back and my camera smashed because I was intent on the shot and not on the traffic.

If it is the Moth Mullein it is a noxious weed, originating in Europe and finding a very conducive environment here.  The book says it will take over a lawn in nothing flat but I have not seen that many.  This one was around a curve and was nothing more than a flash of yellow when I first drove by.  On my return I stopped and looked and there it was, nestled in a whole passel (y'all know what a passel is don' ya?) of Poison Ivy.  I am not allergic to it but the beautiful flower surrounded by that mine field put me in mind of the old musical The Little Shop of Horrors.  See the pretty flower, step on in.... closer, closer....

Oh well, not much more than an observation about this one.  God can even give a pest a beautiful aspect.

Reflections

(click for larger image, JAVanDevender -2008)

If you look closely you will see the reflection / refraction of other flowers in the droplet.

There is a poignancy in the image that touches me at some level I really can't describe.  Perhaps it represents the manner in which the world can be comprehended and distilled into little bite size chunks so that we can understand little by little.  The rest of the garden is all around and yet at the same time it is there, within the droplet, not so much smashed together so as to lose its richness, but altered, arranged, fitted.  There is distortion... the flower does not appear in the drop as it is in direct sight - but it is recognizable, knowable.  Maybe all our comprehension of the world around us is something like this.  We see through a glass darkly, we know in part... one day we will know truly... face to face.  In the meantime though, it is still a beautiful world.  Even when it is only seen through a droplet.

Featured Photo - Cherry Blossoms