“Over the past 12 years, I have learned that a tree needs space to grow, that coyotes sing down by the creek in January, that I can drive a nail into oak only when it is green, that bees know more about making honey than I do, that love can become sadness, and that there are more questions than answers.” – Sue Hubbell, A Country Year

How true this seems to be! There are always more questions. The more we think we know, the less we realize that we know. Life on Planet Earth is one big mystery. It seems that every year scientists discover more species – both in the depths of the oceans and living on human skin and within our very bodies! The extent to which our Maker thought of everything is nothing short of amazing.

I become even more amazed when, as a biologist, I think about the extent of the life of each of those creatures. Each of them is made with specific needs: the place where they have to live, the food that they have to eat, liquids they need to drink, and space in which they will carry out their life. Whether they are tiny or enormous, they move and exert their influence. They have an effect on the world they live in.

I am most struck by recent investigations into the myriads of tiny, tiny organisms that live with us in our bodies. We are only just beginning to realize that these tiny organisms are regulators. They help our organs and systems function as they should so that we can fight off disease and be healthy. We do not understand exactly what the purpose of some of these tiny organisms are. No doubt we don’t even yet know how many others there really are!

So many questions…

As we enter into fall I will be adding a new category, Nature Investigations, where I look at some of the latest scientific investigations into the natural world. I hope you’ll return to my site again and again and recommend this blog to others.