Wayne has described me as much like him, but more spiritual. It is true that we
do have many things in common, but he knows much more about photography and I
probably know more about the natural world. So when we were on these long trips,
there was nothing that we did not talk about…..other photographers, cameras,
lenses, religion, politics, our selves, nothing sacred. It was fun and
entertaining, and after 7 days the pace never slowed down.

Questions that I have reserved for our next trip…….Inquiring minds want to know…LOL….Seeing is not believing, but instead jaw dropping wonderment…..Things we take for granted.

1. Why is it called Mother Earth or Mother nature? My hypothesis is that God created all life. He did so by speaking, “Let there be….”, but with man, he formed clay and dust into His likeness, breathed into the nostrils and it was Adam. Therefore, Adam came from the womb of Mother Earth.

2. If God spoke, “Let there be…..”, and it was…..Why then did he use a different method when he created mankind? Look at all other mammals…..All have the same fundamental body as the human…..all the same organ systems with a few minor differences, etc., but we were created differently. Why?

3. I believe in creation, because God loves order in his world. If there was a “big bang” and all was formed, there would be a haphazard arrangement to the universe. Each planet would be spinning in different directions and there would be no consistency throughout the universe. However, as it is there is a specific path that all planetary orbs follow. They also all spin in the same direction on their axis. That would be a really great coincidence to be true if there was the “big bang.”

4. What is the purpose of a tree? It provides shade, fruit, and changes carbon dioxide into oxygen, It gives off sugar to sustain itself, and moisture to evaporate into the air as part of the water cycle in the process know as photosynthesis. But then why do we have 500 species of trees? Why do we need 500 different types of leaves? Why are some needles and some leaves? Why do some leaves change to orange and some to red or yellow in the fall? Why do some conifers lose their needles in the fall and others do not?

Would not one general type of leaf on all the trees suffice to change the carbon
dioxide to oxygen and emit moisture? Again my hypothesis is that God want His
people to live in a place of beauty, thus He created a variety of trees and
plants to stimulate us and to find pleasing. I know the “HOWS” but I have no
clue as to the “WHYS”.

5. Barnacles vary in size tremendously, from 3 inches across and larger to some that are smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. Each species is very specific as to which they attach, meaning a whale barnacle will not fasten to a post on a pier……one that fastens to the gills of a crab will not fasten to the shell of a crab. Now there is a species that only fastens to the scales of sea snakes. It is about twice the size of the period at the end of this sentence as an adult. As a juvenile it is about one third that size.

Look at the size if the Pacific Ocean, as sea snakes are only found in the
Pacific Ocean. As a juvenile barnacle floating ( it has no means of which to
move other than float) around in the ocean, how does it find a snake? How does
it know it is a snake scale and not a fish scale? I am sure it has something to
do with chemoreception, but how? Now here is the real predicament…..This
barnacle finds the snake on which to fasten. It then has to do so, grow to
maturity, and reproduce. A sea snake sheds its skin every thirty days, and the
barnacle has not a clue how long it has been since the last shed. Is that not
pressure? Is that not amazing?

6. Are snails smart? Most would probably agree they are far from that. (Look up…..vexillium fillareginae by Cates….. on the internet to understand my next question.)

Look at the color and beauty of this shell. This shell is secreted by the animal that lives within. As the animal grows the shell also has to grow for the animal to survive. It does so by taking ingredients from the sea water, and in some fashion secret the hard substance and adhere it to the lip of the opening of the shell. Now take a close look at the shell. How does this snail know how to change colors of this secretion to form such a perfect pattern? It is flawless. Besides that it adds texture to the shell. Is that not amazing?

7. Similarly, how does a baby spider know how to spin an orb? How does a bird
know how to build a nest? How does a baby bird, using the arctic tern (which are
solitary flyers) as an example, know how to migrate 6000 miles to the other
hemisphere?

8. Snails are at least alive……take a close look at a peacock tail feather….an
inanimate object. It is composed of a shaft which is central and hundreds of
fronds coming off the shaft. At the base of the shaft, they are white. As the
shaft grows the color changes to sort of a maroon. From there, it turns to a
blue green. However, on the end there is an eyespot. To create this eyespot,
several fronds have to go through many different color changes. To make this
more difficult, each frond does this at different times in order to create the
pattern. How does that happen?

Similarly, We can look at the colors of the different animals and birds. Most are of a single color, or a couple of colors with a pattern which tends to make then blend in with their surroundings. Take a look at fish, especially salt water fish. There are some with many colors and many patterns (like Joseph’s coat). This is done with fish scales of many colors. Yet whatever the pattern is, it is done with consistency and perfection, and not a haphazard arrangement. Unexplainably amazing.

9. How about turtle shells, with several different plates in them all growing at the same rate and all possessing the same pattern. The scales of a snake’s skin or the skin of the lizards creating different patterns.

I know most of you will say it is instinct…..but I feel there is more there than just instinct.

I believe there is a difference between instinct and innate. I cannot explain it other than there is a little piece of God built into each form of life, and that is innate. The innate takes care of all these unanswered questions, while instinct only controls basic every day survival, eating, sleeping, learning to walk or fly or the mobility aspect, etc.

Now I challenge you as nature photographers…….Do not just go out and stop that moment in time when you create your image. Do not see a tree as a big stick with leaves, but instead see it as Joyce Kilmer saw it……

I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry
mouth is pressed Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks
at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer
wear A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who
intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me, But only God
can make a tree.

The more you know, the more you will enjoy what you are doing. Knowledge
increases your enthusiasm. Enthusiasm increases your Intensity, and that
increases your creativity.