An octillion reasons for my heart to sing.

"Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim Your praise."

As I am missing summer terribly and since we were discussing the miracle of photosynthesis today in science class here is a post from June replete with really big numbers...

Perfect floral reminders of the Sacred Heart of Jesus?  Lovely that they are in bloom for this Friday! We had bleeding hearts in my front garden when I was a little girl.  They were my first botanical love - tied with pussy willows  -  and I was so happy to find two hardy, hearty shrubs here in our garden.  

I love so much that people just leave their canoes and kayaks on the shore without fear of theft.  Maritimers have a reputation throughout the rest of the country for being honest, friendly, trustworthy.  We are humbled and inspired by the simple goodness of the people who live here.

More horsetail ferns. So much love for these...

I ponder the joy and delight I feel seeing him absorb the wonder of creation around him and wonder how much more  joy and delight our Father, who loves us, made us, and made all this must experience when we do the same!

My kitchen window companion, minus a few fingers.  

I am one blessed woman to have this as the view from my front porch.   We heard the loons this morning as we lay in bed and my husband exclaimed: "We live in cottage country!"  Does anyone outside of Southern Ontario know what "cottage country" means?  Here they call it "up-country".  I had never seen a loon save for on our dollar coin until I moved out here. Now I hear them from my bed! Incredible!

I find plants that take root in sand, rocky craggs, or other harsh environments to be fascinating in their tenacious austerity: stripped down in simplicity; perfectly, gloriously complete.

This is the same type of grass as above but with the roots exposed. How wonderfully adapted to life in a harsh, ever-fluctuating environment - a sandy, rocky, brackish inter-tidal zone.    

My nature lover displays one of his finds.

 The wonder of creation astounds me. The wonder of the One who created it all, the fascinating potentiality contained in the genetic code of life let loose to billions of years of adaptive selection to yield this incredible world that captures the energy of the sun in zillions* of photosynthetic plant cells and turns ultimately into food to nurture our bodies, and simultaneously lifts our souls to awe in His glory.

Praise to You, O my Lord!

*zillions? Is that even a real number? Okay, let's just say a lot. Just how much sunlight is converted into food energy via photosynthesis in a year?  Between 57,300 and 71,000 exajoules! What is an exajoule? 10 to the power of 18 (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) or one quintillion joules!   To put in perspective - the United States total energy consumption is roughly 94 exajoules per year.  I just read that there are estimated to be 3.4 trillion trees in the world! And that algae and other ocean plants are responsible for 30-40% of the total output of oxygen in the world. Oh, and another fun fact I learned this morning: the sun emits 400 Yettajoules (10 to the power of 24 = 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000, or a septillion joules) per second!

How many cells are at work converting sunlight into ATP? Well, the world's smallest photosynthetic individuals  - Procholorococcus - a cyanobacterium - number in the octillions alone! (1 with 27 zeros after it).

So kids, the next time you are questioning God's providence... take in a deep breath, let that plant-generated oxygen permeate your lungs and try to count to octillion.