Dust

 

My manifesto:

Find something to wonder about.

Find others to wonder with me.

 

I am fascinated by dust. 

 

Not the sort I scrub off the table every day, but the kind that was once sand and lived in the Sahara Desert.

 

This dust is responsible for much of our Oxygen.

 

Sound preposterous?

 

It does until you get the story. If you have seen this information, please forgive me, I find it so amazing, I have to share it.

 

I saw this information a while ago on the TV documentary One Strange Rock, narrated by Will Smith.

 

 One Strange Rock tells the story of how life survives and thrives on planet Earth, as told by eight astronauts from their unique perspective of being away from Earth (for about 1000 days).

 

A few days ago, I saw the dust story again on and the TV documentary, Connections.

 

Here’s the story: Once upon a time, the Sahara was an ocean. This ocean was so large the United States would fit into it. 

 

The ocean dried up, leaving behind sand, partially made up of an alga called diatoms. Diatoms are microscopic critters that live in glass houses—that is, their shells are made up of silica. You’ve heard of Diatomaceous Earth? It’s an extremely fine, highly nutritious form of sand. (Diatomaceous earth can help rid your dogs of fleas. Liberally dust their fur—the glass gums up the fleas chewing apparatus. I do not guarantee that you will have a flea-free dog, but you’ll have unhappy fleas. Fleas keep hatching, so you must treat the areas where they hatch as well.)

 

Back to the dust: The winds sweep across the Sahara, picking up this fine highly nutritious dust. The wind carries the dust over to the rain forest. There the rains wash it from the sky and onto the jungle floor.  

One fantastic thing is that the amount of dust that drops daily is almost the same amount of nutrients that the rain forest loses daily when the rain leaches it from the soil. 

 

The rain forest supplies a large amount of Oxygen, and viola’ there you have it, dust to O2.

 

There is also an advantage of the dust falling into the ocean. There it feeds the plankton that also supplies us with Oxygen. 

 

 Microscopic images of diatoms.

Light microscopes allow images 

from outside the diatom.

Electron microscopes image the inside.

 

 

Sometimes a dust cloud thwarts hurricanes prone to begin on the shores of Africa and travel across the ocean hitting the Caribbean islands and Florida. The tiny particles work like bullets in the hurricanes, breaking them up. Unfortunately, not all hurricanes are neutralized. However, many are.

 

(Deadly Red tides are another matter. They are caused by toxic algae and are created by adverse ocean conditions. I’m not talking about those.)

 

I am totally in awe of how the Earth tends to balance itself. 

 

I’m asking myself, does this information contribute to my blog, and to people’s lives?

 

I guess it goes back to my manifesto: Find something to wonder about. Find others to wonder with you.

 

I’m wondering, however, if there is a message here with the diatoms and dust, and the Earth--how it takes care of itself. And I want to emphasize that we don’t want to foul up this gentle ecosystem. Diatomaceous algae are found in most waterways. Throw chemicals into the water, and goodbye algae and most living creatures. 

 

Diatoms have found their way into medical research as possible cancer killers. You know that traditional Chemotherapy wreaks havoc with cancer cells. The trouble is, Chemotherapy also harms healthy cells. Scientists believe that, somehow, the little glasshouses can be used in Chemotherapy treatment targeting only unhealthy cells. (Don’t ask me how.)

 

There is also use for silica in Solar panels. 

 

If the dust from the Sahara can fertilize the rain forests, consider how Earth’s cycle can include us in its flow. 

 

That’s my lesson from the dust. There is a flow of goodness spreading throughout the Earth. If, somehow, we jumped on board and were a part of it all, think how much better everything would work.

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I’m thinking of one of my favorite stories from Richard Bach’s book Illusions. I’ve repeated it often, but here it is again: One day a little river creature who had spent his life clinging to the rocks looks up and says. “The current knows where it is going. If I turn loose, I fill float with the current, for surely it knows where it is going.” Quotes mine, I’m paraphrasing.

 

The others clinging beside him say, “No, hold on, that current you so worship will dash you on the rocks.”

 

But the little creature believed, and did turn loose, and was at first dashed on the rocks, but pretty soon, he was lifted up and carried on the current.

 

And the ones downstream seeing him float past, said, “See, he flies. It’s a miracle.”

 

We can be miracles. Carry on,

I love you,

Joyce

 

 

A little fun from my niece Amy’s Instagram: 

 

  

What If, After This is Over, The World is Better?

What if?

 

What if after all the suffering many are going through with lock downs, businesses closing, jobs lost, mortgages and rent that can’t be paid, people running from each other, afraid of eye contact, chaos in the streets--the world ends up better than before?

 

Aren’t you tired of “Because of Covid19…?” Even online banking has that warning. If you have the customers, hire the people to do the job. Like Covid19 Unemployment Compensation—I’ve heard that people put their phones on roto-dial (?) to ever get through—and that can take days, weeks, months. Phone calls can be done at home, and most of the work is done by computer, no danger there. And here we have people needing, wanting jobs…

 

Sigh, what can I say?

 

I can say this: If you want to know what’s going on, read and watch the CENSORED podcasts. Although it might confuse the heck out of you, you will have a little more of the pie.

 

Why are voices being censored? Why are we taking it?

 

That’s the bad news, now the good news:

 

What if, after this is over, the world is better?

 

What if the light wins out over the darkness? I called the light beings to come forth a blog ago. 

 

Remember the little fireflies?

 

Let’s do it, folks—let’s all light up together.

 

If you have a jar full of those little critters, they will light up the night. (Before I was eight-years-old we lived in Illinois, and on summer nights we kids would catch fireflies, that we called  lightning bugs, and put them in a mason jar. They were awe- inspiring.)

 

Togethter we are powerful. Don’t let them separate us. 

 

What if we all shone so brightly the dark forces wouldn’t stand a chance?

 

I had mentioned watching the movie “Woodstock” in an earlier blog because it impacted me how 30,000 young people could come together peacefully. The Woodstock promoters, in hiring security guards, chose people from a commune. They figured that commune had worked out some of the kinks in getting along with people. The one in charge called himself THE PLEASE CHIEF. His manner was, “Would you please move aside so we can get through?” …something along those lines. 

 

Imagine.

 

I’m not suggesting a commune. I don’t want to live with a pile of people. I just want them to light up individually, like fireflies, and talk to each other.

 

Right now, issues have come forth to be looked at. Black Lives Matter has been brought to light. Pharmaceutical companies are under scrutiny. The Medical profession that was once Art and Science has people wondering if it is under the strong arm on Big Pharma, and they are losing Art from the equation. (Doctors are saying this, it isn’t my pie in the sky.) Lock down has chased kids home from school, and now some have decided that home school is better than what they have been offering in the buildings. Oh, yes, the police force has been brought under scrutiny.

 

There are lights in all those professions, let’s help them shine. Many times, the system has nipped off their light. (I know lightning bugs are delicate.)

 

See, maybe we will have change for the better.

 

It will be WE THE PEOPLE who decide.

 

One man with a gun could control many people in a concentration camp because each person was afraid for their life. Together they could have over-powered the oppressors. (Yet, one or two would be shot.)

 

One man on a horse with a whip and a gun could keep slaves bent to the shovel. (Yet, one or two would be shot.)

 

People really need to get over their deathly fear of death. The worse thing oppressors can hold over us is death. Capital punishment is death. (No, keep those buggers alive as long as possible that’s worse punishment.) Saying this Covid19 virus is “Deadly,” stabs us right into the heart, chases us home, and to fear our fellow man. Sorry to mention it, but most viruses can be deadly. Nobody called the Hong Kong flu deadly, yet it killed thousands. 

 

Protect yourself, yes, but be reasonable. Try to see what’s going on.

 

Follow the money.

 

See if there are factors out of our control driving this world condition.

 

We can do it.

 

We are the light beings, remember?  Didn’t we come to this planet to shine?

 

Let’s do it.

 

P.S. Let’s make shopping fun again. My fingers did the walking. Some cool things on https://jos-storebooksandcoffee.com

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Amble in to the store, hear the bell tinkling, smell the coffee, tell me what you think. Something you want? I’ll see if I can find it. Ask jo, she's outside reading under the lightning bugs's glow.