The gulls take off, land, wheel and call above the beach, and sometime stand about in loose pairs or threes or small groups. The plovers and sanderlings dart up and down the sand, in and out of the surf, rarely pausing much at all. The willetts wade, solitary and stately through the edge of the surf. The terns gather. They stand in close ranks, their big orange beaks all pointing out to sea, their eyes directed toward the horizon. But, of course, there’s always one that turns its head just when you’re about to capture the perfect photo! I always…

All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.–Ralph Waldo Emerson– I began visiting and photographing this quarry in 2010 when it was a raw gash carved by bulldozers into the face of the earth. Documenting its return from barren rock, sand and clay has taught me to trust the healing power of Incarnation.

What we speak becomes the house we live in.–Hafez– Sunday after church I went to the copy machine to do a slightly complicated copy job I needed for an afternoon activity. And I just couldn’t get the machine to act right. It would not produce the back to back, facing pages I needed. And I cursed it. Loudly. About then friends walked by in the hall outside the copy room, heard me, and came to my rescue. Of course, it was not the blankety-blank machine’s fault at all. I had been persistently, angrily punching the wrong button, egging myself on…

It grows. It produces fruit. So it must be alive. But it’s not a plant and it’s not an animal. Yet it is one of the most important “creatures” of creation. Merlin Sheldrake has written a book about fungi called “Entangled Life.” The subtitle of his book is telling: “How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures.” I just ordered the book. It’s the third book I’ve ordered today, even though I already have dozens lying about the house that I haven’t read yet. But that’s another issue. Today I offer you this fungus as evidence…