Concerns by Susan L.

  The day has dawned warm. The sky is clear except for a light haze the sun will burn off before too long. H and I are heading to one of the local hiking trails this morning for a much needed dose of nature. It's been difficult being inside after our trip. Mowing a rather overgrown lawn isn't the same as being outside and simply looking and listening to everything that is going on.
  It's mushroom season. The cool nights, heavy dew and warm days are perfect growing conditions. Their astounding array of colours can be breathtaking on a micro scale. Some are miniature, delicate parasols poking out of a mossy bed. Others grow thick and strong, bursting through the leaf litter. The majority are inedible but that's okay. Sometimes beauty is simply for beauty's sake.
  I was very pleased to see some honey bees at the bright pink blooms of the sedum last night. They have been noticeably absent all summer. They are in trouble due to pesticide use. At least there have been plenty of other pollinators like bumblebees, wasps and other insects. Glad to see they seem to be faring okay. There are countries in the world where all the fruit trees have to be pollinated by hand because the use of pesticides has wiped out the insects. That's a frightening omen and a lesson we should take seriously. The honey farmers are. They are lobbying to have the use of the particular pesticide that is so harmful to bees banned. God grant them success.
  There's a flower in my front garden that is prone to aphid infestations. I'll probably tear it out next spring but in the mean time it supports a whole microcosm of connected lives. There are ants patrolling the stems, protecting the aphids for their sweet water waste. Ladybugs feast when the ants aren't there to chase them off. Mostly they've been the orange ones intentionally imported years ago from Asia due to an aphid infestation on food crops. Those suckers bite unlike our indigenous little red jewels.
  There was a news article that they found some Asian Carp in Lake Ontario. It's an accidental import that has devastated US waterways. They have no natural predators. They have voracious appetites and eat everything in sight. They wipe out native fish. Their huge size and the fact that boat motors make them leap clear out of the water make them dangerous to humans. They found three but if they are anything like mice where seeing one means there is at least seven nearby, we could be in trouble.
  Lord, forgive us for what we are doing to this planet and the natural world You created. Amen.
  "Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen 1:26