Nature

What I Do Not See

by

Everywhere we look in this world, we see examples of God’s love and creative power, beautiful even though they are marred by sin. For example, I can look out the window of my office at Steps to Life and see green grass, blue sky, a hedge row of trees. But, between the glass in my window and the hedge row of trees, what don’t I see?

I can see the gravel in the road between my house and the ministry office building, but what I don’t see, unless I look very carefully and closely, is the nest of the killdeer. These intriguing birds build their nest in rocks, and their eggs are colored and marked in such a way that they blend right in with the rocks that make up their resting place until the eggs hatch.

Gnats. Those annoying tiny insects that fly around all the time. You can hear them when they fly close to your ear, but unless they land on your arm or are joined together in a flying platoon, you can’t see them. They are attracted to moisture like puddles of water, garbage cans, overripe fruit. They are also attracted to us—our perspiration, tears from our eyes, our body heat.

I can look out my window on any given day and see the trees swaying in the wind. I don’t see the wind, but I can observe its effect on everything outside.

If I have my window open, particularly in the morning as the sun comes up, I can’t always see just where they are, but I can hear the meadowlarks singing to welcome the day. This is my favorite bird song.

I can smell the rain, even when it isn’t raining yet right where I am.

I can watch the clouds as they drift across the sky, barely able to perceive their movement because they drift both in the direction the wind blows them, but also changing shape. One minute I might see a dog in the clouds, but in another, an elephant or bear.

If I leave the building and walk around campus, I might see some ducks or geese floating around our pond. I can see them, but I cannot see their feet moving much quicker than their movement around the pond might suggest.

Steps to Life owns several acres of ground. I can see a couple through my office window. What I don’t see are all the various insects that live on and in the ground. It is estimated that each acre of ground is home to around 400 million insects of all different varieties and species, and that is a conservative estimate. It depends on the type of soil and the region where you live.

All of this made me think about heaven. I cannot see heaven right now, but the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy paint magnificent word pictures for me so that I can imagine it, even in my sin-marred imagination.

I think of the Holy Spirit. I cannot see Him, but I can see the effect He has on me and others who allow Him to perform His transformative work in our lives.

I cannot see the angels, but I am alive today because they have protected me many times that I know of, and I’m sure many more times about which they will tell me later.

I have not seen Jesus, but I know that He left heaven to save me, and you. One day, we will see His face and hear His voice, but until then, we can look around this world and see, hear, touch, and smell, all the miraculous things He has given us to remind us of His love.

Did You Know?

If you live in the Amazon Rainforest, you might be sharing your little acre with as many as 70,000 different species of insects.

The Octopus

by

The octopus is an eight-legged mollusk with 300 species and is classified as a Cephalopoda. It is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes on the top of its head, and a beaked mouth at the center point of its eight legs. It has a closed circulatory system keeping its blood inside the blood vessels. It has three hearts:

  • Systemic – circulates blood around the body. It becomes inactive when the octopus is swimming.
  • Gill – these two branchial hearts pump blood through the gills.

Its blood contains the copper-rich protein haemocyanin to transport oxygen, making the blood viscous (thick) and requires greater pressure to pump it throughout the body. This protein is why its blood is blue.

The average lifespan of an octopus is four years.

The thing we likely know best about the octopus is that when it is in danger, it shoots ink with a water jet from an ink sac under its digestive gland. The ink passes through glands that mix it with mucus so that it ends up as a dark blob surrounding it. Melanin makes the ink black.

The arms are lined with suckers (suction cups) used for gripping, manipulation, catching prey, and movement. The Giant Pacific Octopus has 280 suckers on each arm (2,240 total). Each sucker has two parts:

  • Infundibulum – the fleshy, outer rim that is flexible and capable of changing shape, conforming to different surfaces.
  • Acetabulum – the hollow, dome-shaped center that acts like a plunger.

Being an invertebrate (a creature without vertebrate), the octopus can deform its shape to allow it to squeeze through small spaces and gaps. If you have ever seen a video of an octopus working its way through a very small hole on a boat to get away, you would have to agree it’s a little creepy. They trail their arms behind them to propel themselves by water jet propulsion.

With thousands of “specialized cells” under its skin, the octopus is master of disguise. These cells are called chromatophores and help the octopus to change color in an instant. In addition, it has tiny areas of skin called papilli that extend or retract changing the texture of its skin to match its surroundings. The most impressive shape-shifter is the Mimic octopus. This fellow doesn’t copy its surroundings; it disguises itself as another animal, the kind predators avoid. It contorts its body, modifies its behavior, and arranges its arms in a way that allows it to impersonate a wide variety of venomous animals—lionfish, banded sole, and sea snakes to name a few. Unlike pretending to be a rock, this impersonation allows the octopus to move away from danger.

The octopus has a complex nervous system and excellent eyesight. Studies have found that they are among the most intelligent and behaviorally-diverse invertebrates.

The octopus is compared with a dog in terms of intelligence. In experiments, the octopus has solved mazes and performs tasks for food rewards. They are able to get in and out of containers. A lab had an octopus in a tank and in a separate tank other fish. The fish kept disappearing, so they installed a video camera and discovered that the octopus was escaping its tank, opening the lid of the fish tank, eating all the fish, replacing the lid, and returning to his own tank. Octopus also use tools—rocks, broken shells, broken glass, and bottle caps.

They also have the ability to recognize people. At the University of Otago in New Zealand, a captive octopus took a dislike to one of the staff. Every time she passed his tank, he squirted her with a jet of water. Seattle Aquarium biologists tested a group of octopus over a period of two weeks. One person fed the group regularly. Another touched them with a bristly brush. At the end of the test, the octopuses had determined that the one who fed them was nice and they behaved differently with that person than they did with the mean person. This proved that an octopus is capable of distinguishing between individuals, even when they wear the same clothes.

The most amazing thing about the octopus is that it has nine brains:

  • Central brain – located in the frontal area of its head in a donut shape around the esophagus. This brain is responsible for sending high-level signals to the arms.
  • Mini-brains – one for each of its eight arms. The arms of the octopus are directed by a mini-brain specific to it, each arm performing a different task. The arms can punch, lift, and pull up to 100 times the octopus’ own weight. They also touch, dig, and catch prey.

In a way, the octopus is like us with God. We all have our individual brains and we live according to their directions, but if we are connected to God, our “mini-brains” can follow His directions.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5

“God permits every human being to exercise his individuality. … Those who desire to be transformed in mind and character are not to look to men, but to the divine Example. God gives the invitation, ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.’ By conversion and transformation, men are to receive the mind of Christ. Everyone is to stand before God with an individual faith, an individual experience, knowing for himself that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory.” The Signs of the Times, September 3, 1902

Sources: nhm.ac.uk/discover/octopuses-keep-surprising-us-here-are-eight-examples-how; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus; animalsfyi.com/why-do-octopuses-have-9-brains-8-arms-3-hearts-and-blue-blood-surprising-facts; aquariumwhisperer.com/octopus-suction-cups]

Did You Know?

The octopus has feelings and can feel pain.

Pacific striped octopus use scare tactics to catch their prey. It creeps up to its prey, taps it on the shoulder causing it to jump away from the arm that touched it into the seven waiting arms.

I Will Be a Mighty Oak Someday

by

The acorn. Both a fruit and a seed. Produced by oak trees, they have a distinctive shape, a hard shell, and a scaly cap called a cupule. This nut-like fruit is critical for oak tree production and contains one or two large seeds inside this tough outer shell. They are food for many varieties of animals, including squirrels and birds, particularly in winter.

They take five to 24 months to mature depending on the specific species of oak. There are 38 acorn types, so the species of oak that will grow can be identified by the outer characteristics—its color, shape, type of cupule, and size—of the acorn.

The Cupule

The cup of the acorn is either scaly, smooth, or hairy. The cupule of native North American acorns have overlapping scales.

Shape

The typical shape of an acorn is round or oblong, and some have pointed tips while others have smooth-rounded tops.

Color

Mature acorns are either purplish-red, reddish-brown, light or dark brown, or black. Green acorns are immature.

Size

Acorns are typically one to six centimeters long. The small acorn nut is about 0.5 of an inch. The largest acorn from the burr oak can be 2-3 inches in diameter.

Acorns are edible and can be roasted and ground into flour. They can also be used to make a caffeine-free, coffee-like drink. Raw acorns contain bitter-tasting tannin. Tannin can be toxic to humans. The acorn should be leached to remove the tannin to improve taste, and safe for human consumption.

The sweetest acorns, and those containing the lowest levels of tannin are found in the pin, burr, east coast white, and cork oaks. The largest acorns are produced by the east coast white, burr, and California black oaks. The fattiest acorns, used to make acorn oil, are from the eastern red and black oaks. The smallest acorns come from the chinquapin and cherry bark oaks.

How to Plant an Acorn

Remember that acorns come in a variety and different acorns will produce different oak trees based on the criteria above. Collect your acorns for planting after they have fallen from the tree (avoiding green acorns). Wait until the second drop, as the acorns in the first drop often are of poor quality. Gather your acorns promptly as they dry out quickly and will be inviable.

All types of acorns should be planted in the fall. Gather twice as many acorns as the number of seedlings you want to grow. Not all will germinate. Discard the acorns if the cups are attached, are damaged in any way, or are moldy or rotted. Plant the seeds right away. If you can’t plant right away, spray them with water to keep them moist, but not wet, in a ventilated plastic bag, stored in a cool place.

Initially, soak the acorns in cold water. Viable acorns will sink and remain at the bottom of the bowl. Floating acorns are no good for planting and should be discarded. Plant the acorns in commercial potting mix based on peat moss. This is the safest way to start healthy seedlings. Use small pots, planting two acorns sideways in a pot. Water them until the water runs out of the drainage holes. Cover the pots with a screen or hardware cloth. Keep the seeds moist until the onset of winter, and keep it weed and pest-free.

Once the seedlings appear, cut off, do not pull out, the weaker of the two about two weeks after they emerge. Plant the stronger seedling in a two-quart nursery pot with large drain holes. The soil should be a half-and-half mixture of potting soil and garden soil, adding one teaspoon of slow-release fertilizer in the soil.

Once the seedling has developed a strong root system, it’s time to plant in its permanent location. Dig a hole three times the diameter of the container at the same depth and place the sapling in the hole and fill in. Water the sapling and spread a thick layer of mulch around the tree, leaving a two-inch space between the mulch and the tree trunk.

Sources: biologyinsights.com/are-acorn-trees-and-oak-trees-the-same; leafyplace.com/types-of-acorns; thespruce.com/plant-acorns-grow-oaks-5203188

Did You Know?

Acorns are also known as oaknuts. Only oak trees can produce acorns.

Leaching acorns to remove the tannin is accomplished by soaking them in water, draining, and repeating until the water runs clear.

Oak saplings are a favorite food for deer and other wildlife. Place a mesh tree guard around the tree for at least three years to protect it.

Nature – Blue Skies Shining on Me

by

Why is the sky blue?

The sky is blue because of a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering—named after Lord Rayleigh, the British scientist who explained the process first in the 19th century.

Sunlight, as it reaches Earth’s atmosphere, is made up of various color wavelengths, like in a rainbow. As it passes through the atmosphere, it interacts with nitrogen, oxygen, and other air molecules scattering the wavelengths in all directions. Each wavelength is different. Blue and violet, because of their shorter, choppy wavelength, scatters more effectively, but also, our eyes are more sensitive to blue light, which is why we see a blue sky during the day. However, the time of day and atmospheric conditions can also have an active influence on the color of the sky.

At sunrise, the sun’s light passes through a thick layer of atmosphere. The blue wavelengths are scattered and this allows the longer red, yellow, and orange wavelengths to dominate the sky. This enables us to see the beautiful hues of these colors as they blend together until the sun is fully up.

There is so much more to know regarding how the different colors in the sky are made. I hope you’ll look at these two sources, and others, to learn more.

Did You Know?

All light travels in a straight line. Unless something gets in the way.

Did You Know?

The wavelengths of color that compose the sun’s light are the same as those that make up the rainbow.

It is also interesting to note that the colors in the light that God made to sustain our planet, and His rainbow, the symbol of His covenant promise with man to never destroy the entire Earth again with a flood, are composed of the same colors.

Sources: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/blue-sky/en/; https://www.space.com/why-is-the-sky-blue

Can Animals Predict the Weather?

by

Some animals may have the ability to predict changes in the weather. However, in reality, it is more likely that weather affects animal behavior rather than animals predicting the weather.

To understand how weather affects animals, we have to understand that the effects depend on local conditions and environment. For instance, you would see a different reaction by an animal to rain in the desert than you would if the same animal was in a rainforest—dry climate vs. wet climate.

Heavy rain can affect an animal’s ability to see and hear clearly, smell, and even regulate their body temperature. This could interfere with an animal’s ability to survive.

Insects cannot fly during a rainstorm. You might observe increased activity in the bug communities as they prepare to hunker down until the storm passes. This results in an increased subordinate response from the birds who take advantage of this more abundant bug smorgasbord. This also results in greater activity among prey birds such as hawks and eagles, and mammals whose diets include the smaller birds.

Birds fly low to the ground when there is an increase in air pressure, a predicator of stormy weather on its way. But recent research has found that it might just be that birds hear infrasound (a low-frequency noise) coming from a nearing storm, even days in advance, causing them to high-tail it out of the area until the storms have passed.

According to Ernest Seton, professor of animal science at State University, cows become agitated and nervous, bawling, and crowding together or seeking shelter when they sense a coming storm. They will suddenly switch direction while grazing, facing into a coming storm. They possess a remarkable ability to accurately “predict” the timing and direction from which a storm will come by detecting subtle shifts in barometric pressure or electromagnetic forces.

Dogs can hear thunder long before the human ear can, and with a nose—possessing as many as 300 million olfactory receptors compared to the human nose which only possesses 5 million—they can smell the moisture of coming rain, and can quite possibly sense static electricity and changes in barometric pressure.

Oceanographers are probably the only folks who would know this, but research shows that sharks dive deeper into the ocean when a hurricane is on the way. Researchers believe, though not conclusively proven, this is because of ear sensitivity which enables them to detect changes in the water and air pressure that accompany hurricanes and tropical storms.

There are documented instances of land animals heading for high ground in anticipation of a tsunami, flood, or earthquake. This is likely because they sense atmospheric and barometric changes, auditory signals, and heightened sensory perception—they can feel minute, low-frequency vibrations in the earth that humans do not notice until it is too late.

The Bible gives us an example of how the weather affected animal behavior.

“The beasts, exposed to the tempest [the Flood], rushed toward man, as though expecting help from him. Some of the people bound their children and themselves upon powerful animals, knowing that these were tenacious of life, and would climb to the highest points to escape the rising waters. … As the waters rose higher and higher, the people fled for refuge to the loftiest mountains. Often man and beast would struggle together for a foothold, until both were swept away.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 100

Sources: nature-mentor.com/weather-animal-behavior; science.howstuffworks.com/nature/slimate-weather/storms/10-ways-animals-supposedly-predict-the-weather.htm; berrypatchfarms.net/what-do-cows-do-when-a-storm-is-coming; scientificorigin.com/how-animals-sense/disasters-before-they-happen

The Worst Year Ever

by

The year 1899 is considered the worst for Major League Baseball. That season, the Cleveland Spiders played 154 games, winning 20 and losing 134.

2008 was the worst year in National Football League history. The Detroit Lions was the first team to lose every game in a 16-game season.

In 1917, the US experienced the worst inflation in its history, when annual inflation reached 17.84%.

From 1939–1945, the world was involved in the worst, most lethal war in history. When World War II ended it is estimated that as many as 80 million people had died—including 21 to 25 million military deaths.

For more than a year, much of the world experienced literal darkness—day and night, extreme cold, economic stagnation, and plague. Known as the Late Antique Little Ice Age, the year was AD 536. A mysterious fog had covered much of the Northern Hemisphere blocking the sun, causing temperatures to drop, destroying crops, and killing people. Why? What was the cause of this fog?

In 2018, researchers discovered that the fog was created by a volcanic event. A report in the journal Antiquity concluded that there was a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in Iceland (Other sources are not as convinced it was Iceland, but certainly somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere.) Volcanic ash, sulphur, and debris were propelled high into the atmosphere and then carried by the wind across most of the Northern Hemisphere; spreading ash thousands of miles, coating Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. This eruption was big enough that it altered the global climate patterns of the time. Procopius, the Byzantine historian, described the darkness as, “the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year.” He said the sun seemed to be in constant eclipse.

His and other accounts of the darkness weren’t taken seriously until the 1990s, when researchers decided to look at the trees in Ireland. Examining the tree rings, they discovered that something weird happened around AD 536. The summer temperatures in Europe and Asia were 35°F–37°F colder; the coldest temperatures in the previous 2,300 years. It even snowed that summer in China. “In the first year of the Tai dynasty [536], snow fell in the summer, and the crops failed.” Nan Shi, Chinese Chronicle. Michael McCormick, a Harvard history professor, noted that, “It was a pretty drastic change; it happened overnight. The ancient witnesses really were onto something. They were not being hysterical or imagining the end of the world. It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year.”

Roman politician Cassiodorus wrote, “We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon.” And described the sun as being “bluish” in color. The moon had lost its luster and, “the seasons seem to be all jumbled up together.” “We have had a winter without storms, a spring without mildness, and a summer without heat.” The effects of this Little Ice Age were made worse by two other massive eruptions in 540 and 547, preventing western Europe from recovering until 660 and 680 in Central Asia.

Then, as if darkness, drought, and economic calamity weren’t bad enough, in 541 the bubonic plague hit the Roman port of Pelusium in Egypt, rapidly spreading until it had killed one-third to one-half of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Less heat and fewer of the sun’s rays were reaching the Earth. After the eruption in 540, temperatures continued to drop and photosynthesis slowed, people died, insects and animals could not survive.

Unable to feed their armies, empires began to collapse, leaving them unable to protect themselves from marauding neighbors. It took decades for the European and Asian continents to recover.

Whether the volcanic eruption in 536 had any real affects on the Americas is harder to tell. There is some evidence that there was a global drop in temperatures in these societies, and excavations have found skeletal remains from 6th century Mesoamerica that indicate malnutrition in the remains of children and young people, and this would align with drought and famine.

A chain of events that began with a volcanic eruption, and ended after decades of chaos—snow in the summer, darkness, seasons scrambled, the deaths of millions of people. Is it any wonder why people of the time thought it was the end of the world?

Caveat: I was intrigued by this subject, but I am in no way making a position statement either for myself nor the Steps to Life Ministry on climate change as it is viewed today.

Did You Know?

The plague of 541 was known as the Plague of Justinian because he was the ruler of the Byzantine Empire at the time. Some estimates suggest that 10% of the world’s population died during this time of plague.

Did You Know?

A team of researchers matched ice records of chemical traces found in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica with the tree ring records of climate, and found that nearly every unusually cold summer over the last 2,500 years was preceded by a volcanic eruption.

Sources: clrn.org/what-is-the-worst-record-in-nfl-history; Wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worst_Major_League_Baseball_season_win-loss_records; madisontrust.com/information-center/visualizations/when-in-us-history-were-the-highest-and-lowest-inflation-rates; nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/5-worst-wars-all-human-history-170840; history.com/article/536-volcanic-eruption-fog-eclipse-worst-year; science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive; justhistoryposts.com/2026/06/10/a-brief-moment-of-historys-worst-year-ever

Do Animals Understand a Smile?

by

Smiling is a natural form of communication. Words are not always necessary to convey a pleasant feeling. None of us can really know what is going on in someone else’s life, and a smile can say, without a single word, I care. But are human beings the only living creatures of God’s creation that can smile?

What does science say about the ability, or lack of ability, of animals to smile? And, do animals understand when we smile at them?

Well, do they? The short answer is an unequivocal: it depends. Maybe yes, and maybe no. It depends on the animal. We smile when we wish to express happiness, amusement, even sarcasm, but how animals perceive our smiles—the reason we smile—can vary widely across the animal kingdom.

Take a lion, for instance. I imagine if you were on safari in Africa and ended up in a situation where lunch would be just you and a hungry lion, a smile might not change the lion’s mind about his main course. You would still be lunch. However, a lion raised by humans in a home setting just might see a smile differently than his wild kin.

Christian, an African lion, was born on August 12, 1969, in captivity and purchased by John Rendall and Anthony Bourke later that year. These two young men raised Christian in their apartment for a year until he grew so large that he required a larger space to live in. John and Anthony worked for Harrod’s department store in London, and they acquired the permissions and permits to create a living space for Christian in the basement of Harrod’s. For another year, Christian lived with his human fathers. John and Anthony were allowed to exercise Christian in the Moravian church graveyard and took him on trips to the seaside (imagine the surprise while you’re soaking up the sun and see a full-grown lion walk by.)

Sadly, due to the cost of his care and his growing size, it soon became apparent that Christian could no longer live in London. When the movie Born Free was being made, John and Anthony met Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, the human stars of the movie, and they directed them to George Adamson, a British conservationist who advocated for lions in Kenya. He and his wife had raised Elsa the lioness the real star of Born Free. Together they made the decision to reintegrate Christian into the wild at the Kora National Reserve.

John and Anthony accompanied Christian to Kenya and stayed a few months while Adamson began his integration back into the wild by introducing him to an older male named Boy and a young female cub named Katania. This formed the nucleus of Christian’s pride. However, life can be unkind in the wild and Katania was killed by crocodiles. Boy was severely injured and no longer had the ability to socialize with other lions and humans, and Adamson had to euthanize him. This left Christian alone, the only surviving member of his pride. But, with patience and time, Christian was able to establish a pride in the region around Kora.

So, what does Christian’s story have to do with smiling? Sometime around 1974, John and Anthony returned to Kenya to visit their old friend. Adamson thought Christian might not remember them. Would he? They went out into the bush and soon found Christian and his pride. At first, he was cautious in his approach. I assume they called to him, with smiles and excited voices. When Christian recognized who they were, he ran to them, stood up on his back legs, and wrapped his front legs around them in a marvelous, bear hug, nuzzling their smiling faces. I imagine Christian was smiling, too, in whatever way lions smile.

Sources: enviroliteracy.org/animals/do-animals-understand-when-we-smile; wikiepedia.org/wiki/Christian_the_lion

The Monarch

by

There are 17,500 species of butterflies in the world. Approximately 550 species can be found in the United States. Butterflies are an important part of nature because they supply food for birds and are pretty pollinators.

Possibly the most well-known species is the Monarch. Those of us of a certain age, can remember a time when monarch butterflies were everywhere. We would go outside with our butterfly nets and chase them all around the yard until we finally caught one.

Did You Know? Aside from their favorite food, milkweed, these are the best flowers to attract butterflies to your yard: dill, blazing star, hibiscus, flowering dogwood, lilac, and parsley, to name a few.

The monarch has a four-stage life cycle: egg, caterpillar, pupa (chrysalis), and adult, which can be five weeks, two to six weeks, or six to nine months. It doesn’t matter which life stage the butterfly is in, when winter comes, it will enter a dormant (hibernative) state similar to mammal hibernation. Butterflies must stay cold and dry while dormant. If disturbed during this state, it might wake up too soon and die. Left undisturbed, most butterflies will hibernate until the beginning of March. Since butterflies in the caterpillar state can only consume certain plants, and it is important that those plants are nearby and are blooming when they wake up so they can begin to eat right away.

Monarchs lay their eggs on the milkweed plant. This plant is its only source of food. The monarch lays only one egg at a time, but over a couple of weeks, she can lay as many as 700 eggs. As you can imagine, the eggs, white and round, are extremely small. The butterfly larva remains in the egg for less than a week. When it “hatches,” it is in the caterpillar stage and remains a caterpillar for two more weeks. During this time, it molts and sheds its skin as many as five times. It also goes through multiple growth spurts and will eat its body weight in milkweed. It grows until it becomes a two-inch long caterpillar. Now it is ready to find a safe, quiet place to form its chrysalis.

The caterpillar forms a small green chrysalis—great camouflage—on a leaf or plant. They remain in the chrysalis for two weeks. You can know when the butterfly is about to emerge when the chrysalis has changed from green to brown.

Did You Know? A butterfly rests with its wings closed, while a moth rests with them spread out. Moths are dull in coloring, but butterflies are vibrant in color. Butterflies are diurnal, and moths are nocturnal.

Finally, the monarch hatches from its chrysalis. Its wings are folded and damp. It takes a little while for them to dry off. Once dry, the female monarch is ready to reproduce. The males need a couple extra days. Their wings are covered in scales and this is what gives them their colorful wings.

When monarchs migrate, it is a long and amazing trip and can consist of as many as five generations of butterflies. Over two months, monarchs will fly approximately 2,000 miles south—a staggering trek—to Mexico and the southern U.S.. This generation lives two to nine months because they spend most of that time flying and hibernating, but this generation is also responsible for the subsequent generations that will keep the life cycle of the monarch going, flying north at the end of winter to lay their eggs.

Sadly, butterflies are decreasing in number—22% in the last 20 years—resulting in the decline of other insects as well.

Sources: birdsandblooms.com/gardening/attracting-butterflies/monarch-migration-magic; ecokidsplanet.co.uk/blogs/news/science-in-the-park-how-do-butterflies-survive-winter; a-z-animals.com/how-long-do-monarch-butterflies-live; activewild.com/difference-between-moth-and-butterfly; usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/06/us-butterfly-population-decline/81350506007 thespruce.com/plants-for-butterflies-8606986

Cold Weather Effects on Nature

by

It is true that winter weather can have some negative effects in the environment, but it is also true that winter has positive—even necessary—effects in the environment.

“Snow affects people everywhere by cooling the Earth, supplying water for a variety of human uses, and sustaining healthy ecosystems, including fish and wildlife populations.”

Reflecting and Absorbing

On a sunny, snow-covered day the sun reflects off the bright white of snow. The heat and light coming from the sun is called radiation. The amount of radiation that is reflected from a material is called albedo, a Latin word meaning white. And what covers the Earth’s surface during winter with a whole lot of white and contains the greatest amount of albedo? That’s right, snow. New snow (the brightest and whitest) on the ground reflects up to 90% of the incoming radiation from the sun. The older and dirtier the snow, the less radiation it reflects.

The albedo is either absorbed by the earth or reflected back into the atmosphere. The more radiation the Earth absorbs, the warmer it becomes. But when snow covers the Earth’s surface, the majority of the albedo is reflected back into the atmosphere instead of being absorbed into the earth, and thus, it keeps the planet cooler.

Water Supply

The more snow that falls the greater the melt when warmer temperatures arrive. This melting snow soon becomes the water that comes out of the faucet, it helps produce the food we eat, and supplies electricity. Melting snow is actually critical as a source of water for agriculture, electricity generation, and other industrial uses.

Agriculture

Winter is a tough time for farmers, but farmers are pretty tough, too. Despite the risk of frost, which can damage both crops and the soil, the farmer uses winter as an opportunity to prepare the land and make plans for the coming year’s crops. They plant cold-resistant crops (i.e., garlic, carrots, spinach, lentils) using protective techniques to help mitigate the cold weather.

Winter time is the recommended time for applying compost or manure to the soil. This helps the soil to maintain its structure and fertility. To protect your winter crop from frost cover it with mesh or plastic or mulch. A light watering at the end of the day, before the temperatures drop to the point of frost, will help to keep the plants from freezing.

Did You Know? If you live in the western U.S., there’s a good chance that you brushed your teeth this morning with water that started out as millions of tiny snowflakes that fell in the mountains during the winter. The eastern U.S. enjoys sufficient year-round precipitation in the form of snow and rain. This provides a reliable source of water. The precipitation seeps through the soil into underground aquifers storing water until it is pumped out when needed.

Snowmelt supplies 75% of the water supply in the western states, and this is important because of the warmer temperatures particularly in the summer months. Melting snow is a slow process that begins in the spring and provides a steady flow of water.

Source: ourwinterworld.org\importance-of-snow

Did You Know? If you thought that winter would wipe out those pesky pests like fleas and ticks, you’ll have to think again. Cold temperatures can kill some, but both fleas and ticks have gotten pretty good at surviving even a really cold, hard winter.

“If we had perpetual summer, we should not value as we do now its bright days and beautiful flowers. Through the winter months we look forward to the time when summer with its beauty will once more gladden the earth.

“So it is with the Christian life. … Our sojourn here is as it were the Christian’s winter. But our faith and hope reach forward and upward … to the home that Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 18, 138

Source: agronoblog.com/agriculture/winter-and-its-impact-on-agriculture-a-guide-for-the-cold-season

Strange Flowers

by

Springtime is here. The earth is waking up from its months-long sleep. Hyacinths, daffodils, and tulips have begun to show themselves above the soil. Beautiful colors catch the eye, and the scents bring a sense of calm. Soon, petunias, marigolds, gardenias, daisies, dandelions, roses, and so many other flowers and plants will break through the surface and be added to the calliope of color and scent.

Many of these miracles of God’s creation are familiar to us, but what about other less seen, even exotic flowers and plants—also marvels of God’s handiwork? Let’s look at just a few.

Monkey Orchid

The Dracula simia, is more commonly known as the monkey orchid. Its most interesting feature is that it looks like a monkey’s face. There are several different faces. Its colorful blooms and strong orange-like fragrance make it an excellent pollinator plant. The flower is native to North America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

White Egret Orchid

The Habenaria radiata looks like a white egret in flight, its long neck stretched forward and wings extended. This orchid is native to Japan, Korea, Russia, and China.

Hot Lips Plant

The Psychotria elata is a tropical plant from the rainforests of Central and South America. Its flower is uninteresting, but its bracts—modified or specialized leaves—are bright red and resemble puckered human lips. It grows as a shrub or small tree. It is found in Central and South America, particularly in Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Panama. It requires soil that is rich and humic from leaf litter, and requires partial shade. The plant is a traditional anti-inflammatory medicine used by the Amazon people in the treatment of arthritis and infertility.

Swaddled Babies Orchid

The Anguloa uniflora—the tulip orchid—looks like tiny babies wrapped up in a blanket inside the flower. Botanists Antonio Pavon Jimenez and Hipolito Ruiz Lopez discovered the flower during a ten-year expedition from 1777 to 1788 in Chile and Peru. This small orchid blooms in spring and is extremely fragrant. It prefers elevated regions like the Andes of South America—Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador.

Happy Alien Flower

The Calceolaria uniflora was discovered in South America by Charles Darwin. It resembles a tiny orange penguin walking on the rocks. The flower is a combination of yellow, white, and brownish red. It originated in Tierra del Fuego in the southern part of South America.

Skeleton Flowers

The Diphylleia grayi is a perennial plant native to northern and central Japan. The flower is white, but when it comes into contact with water, the petals become transparent, which is how it became known as the skeleton flower. However, once it dries out, the petals become white again.

Only God could create such diverse, intricate plants using a rainbow of colors.

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6

“And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’ ” Revelation 5:13

Sources: balconygardenweb.com/plants-or-flowers-that-look-like-things; wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphylleia_grayi; gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/hot-lips-plant/what-is-hot-lips-plant, accessibility: February 2025