Unintended Consequences

No matter how hard you think through and plan, unintended consequences are always part of the mix.  Consider this:

On Labor Day this week, my wife and I decided it was time to do a little outdoor plant buying.  There were sales galore, and after visiting one nursery and not being able to decide on what we wanted, we visited another (where the prices were lower and the selection was actually not overwhelming).  We chose four plants for our front yard, and happened upon a “Butterfly plant” that was loaded with butterflies.  The consultation that ensued was not whether or not to purchase this plant, but rather which color to get.  We settled on the yellow one, and had visions of “flocks” of butterflies discovering our back yard.  We could see ourselves sitting on the deck, enjoying the sight of these marvels of nature.

It took a day or two for the butterflies to find the bush.  Today I noticed many butterfies being attracted and grabbed my camera so that my wife could at least know that the bush was “working”.

Apparently, word had gotten around.

I noticed a butterfly hanging a little askew, and tried to pick off the dead butterfly before I snapped the photo.  It was attached pretty firmly.  That seemed a little odd to me.  So I looked more closely, and there found that a praying mantis had found lunch and wasn’t going to let go!

Of course!  If you attract butterflies, you attract those critters that eat them too!

I snapped the photo of lunch.

Lunch on the Butterfly Plant

Life in the slow lane

It is a steamy morning, the air heavy with the aftermath of the morning’s gentle rain.  Driving into the parking lot at work, I’m listening to the morning.  The wet tires on the pavement.  The birds singing.  Even the sounds of my footfalls on the ground seem to be accentuated.

Suddenly, my attention is drawn to a buzzing sound, and movement across the pavement.  It takes me as long to recognize the cicadia as it does for this monster of an insect to become airborne, its heavy body making its flight seem impossible.  Gradually it gains altitude, buzzing along, conjuring images of a mouse with wings.

I’m not the only creature noticing the heavy, slow flight.

Like a hawk swooping down on prey, a robin zeros in on the cicadia, and with deft movements, snatches the insect out of mid-flight.  All is quiet.

Pondering Pastor

Carbon Reduction by Food Choice

It seems that anything we can do to reduce the distance our food needs to travel before we consume it is a good way to reduce that food’s carbon footprint.  A new study described at LiveScience.com suggests that doesn’t play as important a role as the type of food we choose.

Substituting chicken, fish or vegetables for red meat can help combat climate change, a new study suggests.

In fact, putting these foods on the dinner table does more to reduce carbon emissions than eating locally grown food, researchers report in the May 15 issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

The production phase is responsible for 83 percent of the average U.S. household’s greenhouse-gas burden with regard to food, while transportation accounts for only 11 percent, the new study found. The production of red meat, the researchers conclude, is almost 150 percent more greenhouse-gas-intensive than chicken or fish.

“We suggest that dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household’s food-related climate footprint than ‘buying local,’” the researchers write. “Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more greenhouse-gas reduction than buying all locally sourced food.”

Actually, it makes sense.

Pondering Pastor