Another Morning in Paradise

29 August 2024: Hurricane Hill (1,100 feet), White River Junction, Vermont

5:39 a.m. 51 degrees, wind N 4 mph, a cleansing wind sweeping summer aside (for a moment). A thinly crescent moon,  tipped southeast, spills autumn over the gunnel. A long band of bruised clouds above the New Hampshire skyline, all the way to the horizon; below, a band of pink kisses the ridgeline; above, wispy white and baby blue. River fog and cool air, an altogether enchanting sunrise. Seven species of birds, including two warblers (black-throated green and northern water thrush, bobbing and picking through the leaf litter like a lost shorebird), a pileated woodpecker (up early for a cavity nester).

Troops of chickadees and titmice are foraging through worn-out leaves. Two broad-winged hawks circle overhead, a rain of shrill whistles. A leucistic house finch sporting a white collar and scoured breast, as much white as red, waits patiently for an amped-up red squirrel to fill his face with sunflower seeds.

A garden full of basil, delicata squash, and Sungold tomatoes. I’ll fill the hummingbird feeders one last time … the hill’s clocks agree; autumn’s on the horizon.

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It's such a finely tuned world we live in.

Yesterday, I read a scientific paper that laced together the use of cheap painkillers for India's livestock, the collapse of southeast Asia's vulture population (several species), and the death of more than 100,000 people per year in the Indian countryside. Here’s the connection: vultures gorging on livestock carcasses couldn't metabolize the painkillers, which destroyed their kidneys. Cows died in rivers, polluting freshwater. And with less competition and more rotting meat, the population of feral dogs exploded, unleashing a volcanic outbreak of rabies.

And there's the Chinese orb-weaving spider that influences a male firefly knotted in the web to alter his flash pattern to mimic a female firefly. The modified flash pattern attracts more male fireflies, which entangle with the spider's proprietary air.

It's remarkable to me how much there is to learn about the planet we live on and how deeply connected the forces of life are. In the 1830s, Darwin noticed life begot life and all things were connected. How far back in time and how deep those connections defy imagination.