Well…recently… you have your good news…and then you have
your bad news!
The Good News: A majority of the species living on planet
Earth have not been discovered as of yet.
The Bad News: Several weeks ago a mini-asteroid, 17 meters
or 55.7 feet in diameter came streaking into the earth’s atmosphere above the
Russian city of Chelyabinski. It was traveling approximately 40,000 miles per
hour when it exploded 12-15 miles above the earth’s surface. The energy
released was estimated as 470 kilotons or 40 times more powerful than the atom
bomb the U.S. dropped on Japanese city of Hiroshima during WWII. The
mini-asteroid was smaller than the 130 foot visitor from outer space that
flattened 825 square miles of forest in Tunguska, Siberia in 1908. But, thousands of buildings were damaged,
1,000 people were injured in the Chelyabinski “hit” several weeks ago.
The Bad News, it will happen again. Can you imagine what
would have happened if that asteroid that slammed into the atmosphere was just
74 feet larger? 825 square miles of the earth’s surface and what was on top of
that surface, buildings, humans, cats and dogs, all would have been flattened
like the endless numbers of trees in Siberia one hundred years ago.
Back to the Good News:
The hidden species estimate of over 11 million still undiscovered
species, from microscopic to large, was made by Thomas Lewinsohn, a well-known
professor in Sao Paulo, Brazil. These un-named creatures are hidden in jungles
or on top of mountain peaks, supposedly. I am not so sure about the veracity of
this hopeful claim by the good doctor of ecology at State University of
Campinas, only time will tell. Not in our lifetime, but new species will be
discovered and others will die out…most have since the earth began, replaced or
evolved by other species.
The point of all of this has to do with the picture of the
bunny above. Here’s the explanation.
Several mornings ago I just stumbled out of bed and was ready to start pounding
away on my computer keyboard when I wandered to a rear window facing out toward
our backyard. I saw the bunny pictured above; I ran for my camera and voila…the
bunny picture.
What I am trying to say is that I took my time to stop what
I was doing or thinking or planning or imagining. I stopped for a moment to
look around at my environment…to look carefully at the trees, the sky, the
birds, the small furry creatures scampering sometimes at my feet. I think we
all have to do this from time to time. I certainly have to do this more. We
have to consider the beauty of nature, life and the universe around us. The
world and universe far beyond us is like a marvelously complex Swiss clock, all
seeming to work in harmony.
Now if we can live our lives in synchronicity with that
harmony, taking each event bad or good in stride, we could handle the stress of
life much better.
I think I am going to pour another cup of coffee, wander through
my outside world and see if I can spot my bunny friend again. I see this bunny
often, in the same location. I think I will give him, or her, a name. Any
suggestions? Thanks.
Frederick Fichman
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