And now for something completely different...

Dear Diary,

Deep in the woods, under certain trees, you can sometimes find an Indian Pipes plant growing although in recent years they are becoming harder and harder to find.  They are sometimes called Ghost Flowers or Corpse Plants and Emily Dickinson called them "the preferred flower of life."  I just think they are magical and a delight to stumble upon.

Indian Pipes get their energy not from photosynthesis, as green plants do.  They get what energy they need to grow from fungi that live under the ground and who have a symbiotic relationship with surrounding trees.  It is really a great example of the web of life that is hidden beneath the forest floor. 

Everything is connected in subtle and not so subtle ways.  Damage one thing and you injure the whole.  It is an understanding that indigenous peoples have always had but which we, sadly, have lost.  I hope these fragile little Indian Pipes will survive for future generations to marvel at but I am not feeling overly optimistic.