Pale Blue Dot is the title of a book written by scientist and astronomer Carl Sagan. (Great book by the way. Check it out. Mr. Sagan writes really interesting, easy-reading science.) The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 spacecraft from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) from Earth, as part of the solar system Family Portrait series of images. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a tiny dot (0.12 pixels in size) against the vastness of space. The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and to take a photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space, at the request of Carl Sagan. (Information from Wikipedia)
Our lovely blue and white and green jewel of a planet is unique, as far as we know as of 2012. We know of no other planet in our solar system or anywhere in the known universe that has life. Considering the vast distances of space, we may never know if there are other planets like ours although in recent years, planet-hunters have found numerous planets in our Milky Way galaxy. I still remember the first photos of Earth taken by the Apollo astronauts from the moon. OH. WOW!
Whether or not our planet is unique, we ought to take better care of it. It is the only home we have. From oil spills to mining disasters and mining pollution, to various destructive methods for finding and extracting energy, i.e. fracking, we humans are quite good at making a mess. Cleaning up that mess can happen, but is often time consuming. The success of any given mitigation and restoration can be questionable.
When the BP oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, oil flowed unchecked into the Gulf for three months. Every day I checked the news to see if the spill had been stopped and every day that it wasn’t caused me a certain amount of physical and mental discomfort. I’ve seen the Gulf from an airplane and once from Florida and the Gulf is spectacularly beautiful. I live nowhere near the Gulf of Mexico but during that oil spill, it felt as though someone had broken into my home and poured tons of muck directly into every room in my house. I was OFFENDED. DEEPLY. It was like the Earth was bleeding and there were no doctors around who knew how to stanch and stitch the wound.
But let us focus on bits of Earth. From tiny grains of sand to pebbles and stones to boulders, to mountains, pieces of Earth are amazing. I collected rocks from around my neighborhood when I was in high school and glued them to pieces of cardboard to make a display. It still amazes me how many different kinds I found. I did not know all their names but color and texture alone told me that I had real variety in my collection. I still find it difficult, when I am wandering around in the great outdoors, not to look for unusual stones. If you ever see me walking around, seemingly staring at my shoes, you will know that I am rock-hunting.
Even soil is amazingly varied. Avid gardeners learn that there are different types of soil. Consider this tidbit from the Colorado State University Extension library of gardening information.
“Texture refers to the size of the particles that make up the soil. The terms sand, silt, and clay refer to relative sizes of the soil particles. Sand, being the larger size of particles, feels gritty. Silt, being moderate in size, has a smooth or floury texture. Clay, being the smaller size of particles, feels sticky. “
“A coarse-textured or sandy soil is one comprised primarily of medium to coarse size sand particles. A fine-textured or clayey soil is one dominated by tiny clay particles. Due to the strong physical properties of clay, a soil with only 20% clay particles behaves as sticky, gummy clayey soil. The term loam refers to a soil with a combination of sand, silt, and clay sized particles. For example, a soil with 30% clay, 50% sand, and 20% silt is called a sandy clay loam.”
As an amateur gardener, I know that some soil is great for gardening and some needs work. Sometimes lots of work. I remember one spring day when Hubby had to get out the pickaxe and the spar bar and hack away at soil the consistency of concrete mixed with steel to dig a planting hole for me. I know that adding mulch to soil, i.e. grass clippings, sphagnum moss, composted manure will eventually make soil softer and healthier for plants. This can take a while, sometimes years to really amend problem soil. Other plants, especially native plants, i.e. yucca will grow in the worst possible soil without the least special attention or care.
However when something I have planted roots and begins to grow, it is a thrill better than fireworks as far as I am concerned. Happy soil equals happy plants equals happy gardener. Happy soil is not just sand and silt and clay. Healthy soil is home to all kinds of living organisms. The Colorado State University Extension library of gardening information says this about soil organisms.
Bacteria are simple, single-celled microorganisms. Bacteria inhabit a wide variety of habitats, including soil. In fact, a teaspoon of productive soil can contain from 100 million to 1 billion bacteria.
Fungi are a diverse group of multi-cellular organisms. Soil fungi grow as long strands called hyphae (up to several yards long), pushing their way between soil particles, rocks and roots.
Protozoa are microscopic, single-celled microbes that primarily eat bacteria. The bacteria contain more nitrogen than the protozoa can utilize and some ammonium (NH4) is released to plants There may be 20,000 protozoa in one cup of healthy soil.
Nematodes are small, unsegmented round worms. Nematodes live in water films in the large pore spaces in soil. There may be 100,00 nematodes in one cup of healthy soil.
Soil arthropods are small animals such as insects, spiders, and mites. They range in size from microscopic to several inches in length. Most live near the soil surface or in the upper three inches. There may be 50,000 arthropods in one cup of healthy soil.
Planet Earth: the entire planet or its parts is our nourishment, our pleasure, our foundation, our responsibility, our home. This I believe.
