We continue to be open to nature's subtle beauty and lessons.  In "Chicks that bully", I failed to notice at first the stronger sandhill crane chick picking on its weaker sibling, or Mom's firm but gentle reprimand.  Yet when I downloaded the images from a week of shooting, there was the story.  And how many times have you been working or playing in your yard and noticed mockingbirds arguing with each other or some other type of bird?  In "Border dance", I finally focused on their world long enough to observe how they work out feeding zones and border disputes.

I never realized there were hawk-like birds of prey  that attacked slow-moving apple snails rather than rodents and snakes.  But that is precisely what the endangered Everglades snail kite prefers in "Snail Hunters".

Although the title of our newsletter is "Florida Time Forgot", we have no choice but to interact with plants and animals that are recently "introduced" residents to Florida.  And we are reminded that generations ago, our human ancestors were also non-natives  -- and highly invasive ones at that.  The best we can do is try to learn from every life form, as they all have valuable lessons to teach.

In "Vessels", I explore the connection between our human bodies and the snails and their shells.  We are temporary but the atoms that hold us together and move through us, creating molecules and cells, have been around a long time.  What can we learn from this?

I am thankful for a long lens (80-400 mm Nikkor), when it came to photographing an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake slithering across a trail in the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest.  (See "The Great Intimidator" below.) The lens requires that the shooter be at least 7-1/2 feet from the subject to focus clearly.  I laid down to confront the snake from a safer distance of 10 feet and hoped I could rise & run fast if needed.   

Ever the detailist, Marisa's latest illustration, "Home Schoolers", is a depiction of life in
South Florida some 3,000 years ago.  The illustration, and two others, will be part of the Clewiston Museum's exhibit that includes our fossil collection.  Look close...really close...and you may  notice a young girl in the group texting through an archaic version of an Apple IPhone.

In Darwin and Doug's "Kayak & Seek", we are reminded that playing is good for the soul, as is not taking ourselves too seriously.

The rainy season continues to produce daily thunderstorms, some of which I've captured in various stages, including Tropical Strom Debbie as she made her way north, dumping a ton of water in the rivers where we fossil hunt.  "Storms of Life" includes a welcome rainbow.

There are lives playing out all around us in the micro world of insects.  And yet the world our senses most directly connect with is the world of human life cycles.  In "Who or what did this to me?", a dung beetle suffers a slow death by a creature indifferent to its pain. 

"Darwin's Cows" is the next free chapter in my PDF book, Autumn With Darwin:  A Carolina road trip with an old boy and his young dog, while "Doggone Dugongs" is the next free chapter in my Peace River fossil book called, Up River and Down Under.

And finally, the national news has broadcast several recent sightings of the Virgin Mary in various parts of the world, including New Jersey a day after I am writing this.  I know you're going to think I am crazy but I saw an image of Charles Darwin in Everglades algae and I have the photo to prove it!  Thousands have flocked to the glades since then.  Can you blame them?  It's a miracle!

We hope your visit is a fun and educational one!

Bestus,