Life

Life can appear in some of the most interesting places sometimes. The following photo shows a fencepost on a neighbor's property that is sprouting a little plant of some sort, produced by a seed which a bird, squirrel, or the wind has deposited on the wooden post.

Not far from where I live, there was an old textile mill. The factory, itself, has mostly been dismantled except for one section that is currently used for storage. The building in the below photo was the office for the business, separate from the factory building, where the manager and his staff were headquartered. In the background is one of the large smokestacks from the old mill. Look closely at the top of the smokestack...

...let me help you see it with a closeup photo...

A seed has taken root in the top of the smokestack! This was surely deposited by a bird, and the little plant is thriving there, clinging to the brick! I was so surprised to see something growing way up there, dozens of feet in the air.

Extremes of heating and cooling through the seasons can cause cracks to form in pavement, allowing grasses and plants to poke through, slowly reclaiming the area in the name of Mother Nature. This is part of the parking lot at that same factory:

And finally, here is ivy growing on the back of the "Tool House" (as we call it), a small outbuilding which my father built for storing his tools and working on projects. I need to get someone to clear that, before it begins to do damage to the building.

And speaking of life...

One of my favorite things to watch on television is the local PBS (Public Broadcasting System) network affiliate, which features many educational shows. Just this week, I saw a fascinating account of life in the Andes Mountains of South America on a series called "Kingdoms of the Sky" which explores the Earth's mountain ranges. In this episode, some of the things discussed and shown were:

https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmTdBEnTLVRs1BjkwnJe9PGjjvs7fC3sJntuq7rEJ8B4Qw/GlassFrog.png
^{Glass Frog, source: weebly.com}
• the Glass Frog, which has a translucent, almost see-through, body — one can actually see its heart beating inside its chest cavity through its transparent skin
• the Rain Frog, which can change the actual texture of its skin as well as color, in minutes, for the most amazing camouflage I've ever seen
• one of the most treacherous, winding mountain roads in the world, which is regularly traveled by a bus; at places, the road is only a foot wider than the bus
• a rope bridge that has been woven entirely by hand from mountain grasses, spans a chasm over a river, and has been maintained for over 500 years by the locals
https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVcrGgHdSfhZ9qe3zSt497cqq9J2s5RHZPpipJuDXChds/SalarDeUyuni.png
^{Salar de Uyuni, source: topsouthamerica.com}
• the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, the world's largest salt flat, which is often covered in a thin layer of briny water that mirrors the sky with some astonishing effects
• the massive glaciers in the Andes which is home to the Glacier Bird, which rears its young in a glacial hole because the area is free from predators

The show was so incredible and had such amazing video captures that I watched it a second-time this week when my local PBS television station played a rerun. Anyone who is interested in the diversity of life on this planet should definitely watch this episode of "Kingdoms of the Sky" — it is available for viewing online at: https://www.pbs.org/video/andes-zizzth/