life persisting It was an early and long, hot and very dry summer this year. And our garden at Grabov Rat suffered substantial damages, some of them heart breaking. Probably some previous summers were like that, summer of 2008 for instance, but our garden at those times wasn’t yet so richly and ambitiously populated. Currently, a huge pile of dead bushes and tree branches saddens my eyes - burning of garden waste is not allowed till November first. A couple of dead plants we already replaced, not necessarily with the same species. So we bought a Virginia creeper to replace dead, or so I thought, grape vine (photo on the right). Then, at the last moment of truth, I’ve spotted a sign of life [ROLLOVER]. And that moment reminded my of Nick Lane’s wonderful lines on life in general, see below, which I value as high as Kenneth Clark’s civilization manifest.
|
from the Nick Lane’s introduction to his Life Ascending, The ten great inventions of evolution (2009) Set against the consuming blackness of space, the earth is beguiling blue-green ball. Barely two dozen people have ever experienced the emotions of seeing our planet from the moon and beyond, yet the fragile beauty of the pictures they sent back home is engraved in the minds of a generation. Nothing compares. Petty human squabbles over borders and oil and creed vanish in the knowledge that this living marble surrounded by infinite emptiness is our shared home, and more, a home we share with, and owe to, the most wonderful inventions of life. Life itself transformed our planet from the battered and fiery rock that once orbited a young star, to the living beacon that is our world seen from space. Life itself turned our planet blue and green, as tiny photosynthetic bacteria cleansed the oceans of air and sea, and filled them with oxygen. Powered by this new and potent source of energy, life erupted. Flowers bloom and beckon, intricate corals hide darting gold fish, vast monsters lurk in black depths, trees reach for the sky, animals buzz and lumber and see. And in the midst of it all, we are moved by the untold mysteries of this creation, we cosmic assemblies of molecules that feel and think and marvel and wonder at how we came to be here. |
 |
WEBSITE EDITOR:
Krešimir J. Adamić
