I’m
taking a little vacation time, so I won’t be able to talk to you next week.
I’ll miss that. But I’ll be back the week after that with, I’m sure, many
adventures to relate.
But
before I go away, I thought I’d tell you about something I ran into this week
that is completely not what you’d expect in a million years. But then Mother
Nature kind of specializes in the unexpected, doesn’t she?
High
on the cool and beautiful mountains of China and Japan, the plant life bobs
rhythmically in a serene breeze. The air is cool and quiet. By your feet,
broad, green leaves cradle little bunches of wee white flowers. They’re very
pretty, but not really extraordinary in any way. They’ve got a bell of snow
white petals and, at their center, a little green bead with a circle of bright
yellow extensions growing all around it. They’re charming and beautiful.
You
start to turn away. Much more to explore, here.
Cool
droplets begin to drip down your cheeks and the air suddenly feels clean
and fresh. It’s an early summer shower. Those little flowers will enjoy a
drink. You glance instinctively down at them and then freeze. You stare, your
mouth wide open.
The
very ordinary has just become breath-taking.
As
the delicate white petals become drenched with fresh rainwater, their pure
white color begins to fade and then disappear.
By
the time the shower subsides, those tiny little white flowers are as clear as
shimmering crystal!
You’ve
stumbled upon Diphylleia grayi. At least that’s what the scientists call them.
They more often called Skeleton Flowers because of the way you can see all
their insides when they go transparent like that. They truly are some of Mother
Nature’s most amazing little flowers.
So
how do they do that? What makes these little flowers go transparent? It’s a
very unusual talent, you must agree.
You
just never can tell what amazing thing Mother Nature is going to dream up next!
Well,
that summer shower was refreshing and lovely, but it almost seems to be letting
up a bit. You seem to be feeling fewer and fewer raindrops on your cheeks. You
look up at the sky. The heavy, dark clouds are moving along towards the horizon
and taking their showers with them, leaving behind a batch of deep, blue sky.
They sun begins to pour down warmly upon your head. You hear the gentle drip,
drip of rain water rolling off leaves and landing in puddles forming on the
ground. Drip, drip. Everything even smells fresher.
After
a moment you turn back around for one last look at your crystal clear Skeleton
Flowers. And once again you gape. The sun has dried them out and, as they
always do, the flowers have reverted to their snowy white. They are like new.
There is no hint of their invisibility.
You just never know what Mother Nature is going
to dream up next, do you?
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