30 Days of Thankfulness- Our Amazing Planet

Do you have any idea how amazing our planet is? It's astounding. Miraculous. Stunning. Overwhelmingly awesome. It's huge. We will never know every plant and animal on the face of this earth. If we live responsibly, and don't use things like there's no tomorrow, our planet can sustain quite a few more people, which is good since our population is growing all the time. Our planet is amazing. Here are some of the things I am thankful for.

For one, I'm thankful that our planet functions pretty well. I read an amazing book series for teenagers last year that made me realize that life exists in a delicate balance here on earth. In the book, a meteor (or was it an asteroid?) whacked the moon and knocked it a little closer to our planet. People went to bed that night surprised (the meteor shower was expected, the moon thing was not) but not panicking. The events that followed that collision were really terrifying. The moon's gravitational pull controls our oceans' tides, among other things, and it would really mess things up if things fell out of balance. In the book, massive tidal waves wiped out entire countries, and the coasts of the United States. The gravitational pull brought up all kinds of lava, setting off volcanoes all over the world, which covered the planet in ash clouds that normally only affect people near the volcanoes for a short period of time. Because of this, crops died (no sunlight), and people froze. The weather was drastically altered. It was insane. The books are really good, by the way. But seriously, I am thankful that our planet is placed in just the right spot. We're not too close to the sun, or to the moon. Jupiter acts as a buffer for the rest of the solar system, absorbing impact from all kinds of junk flying around in space. If that stuff hit another planet, it could seriously mess up the whole solar system. Thanks, Jupiter! I'm thankful that our planet is not covered in volcanoes, and that we can see the sunshine and breathe the air (usually) and grow our crops and have food to eat.

I'm thankful for green. I have thought for a very long time that green must be God's favorite color, because there is simply so much of it. Green is all over the place. Grass is green. Trees are green. Ferns and flowers and everything that grows- green. Even cacti are green. Our creator even threw some green into desert wastelands washed out with beige sand and red clay. Even the oceans and rivers are kind of green! I'm thankful for plants, for brightening our world, for cleaning our air, for being here for us to eat. I'm thankful for the trees we use to build things. I'm thankful for herbs that spice up our food and help us to feel better. I'm thankful for crazy weird plants like the giant rafflesia and the murderous Venus fly trap.

Perhaps most of all, I am thankful for wildlife. I don't understand how people aren't as excited about animals as Brandon and I are. Do you have any idea what's out there? Animals are fascinating! They're powerful, cute, majestic, interesting, smart, amazing, intelligent, helpful, vital to life on our planet. You can never stop learning interesting things about animals. 

Did you know that giraffes and practically all the other animals have the same number of vertebrae in their necks? But which animals don't have the same number? Sloths! They have more!

"Take that, giraffes."

Did you know that the only apes that eat meat (not including insects) are chimpanzees? Chimps hunt other ape and monkey species. Gorillas, on the other hand, depicted for decades in our movies as man-eating, terrifying monsters, mostly eat fruit and browse, and only attack if their family unit is under threat.

"I'm almost extinct because people like to eat us and cut off our hands for use as office decorations."

Did you know that elephants recognize each other even after spending 40 and 50 years apart? Did you know that some of them like to get drunk? There are trees that drop heavy fruits on the ground, which ferment- turning them alcoholic. The elephants like to seek out these fruits, gobble them up, and get wasted. Which is pretty funny to watch.

"Boop!"

Did you know that humans have the same number of hairs per square inch as great apes like orangutans and gorillas?

"OMG!"

Did you know that sharks were responsible for 17 human deaths last year, but ants kill about 30 people a year, and hippos kill over 2000 people annually in Africa alone?

"Don't cross me."

Did you know that big, goofy tapirs are actually classified as extremely dangerous animals in zoos? They won't maul you, but they might accidentally stomple you to death. Tapirs are kind of unstoppable when they're on the move. They are so big that their only natural predator in the South American jungle is the jaguar, which hops down from its hiding place in the trees to jump on the tapir's back. The tapir's only defense is to run like crazy, knocking down the forest on the way. If there is a path in the dense jungle, used by animals to travel through all the lush greenery, chances are, that path was made by a tapir. They build wild infrastructure.

"Take me seriously."

You may have known that koalas only eat eucalyptus leaves, but did you know that those leaves are poisonous? Did you know that there are only a few varieties (out of dozens) of eucalyptus that are not lethal?  Did you know that eucalyptus is so bad for the body and so low-calorie that koalas take days to digest the leaves- which is why they have no energy and sleep all the time? And I'm not even going to tell you how baby koalas prepare their tummies to switch from mama's milk to poison leaves. It's too gross.

"Zzzzzzz....."

Did you know that Michael the gorilla (Koko's less-famous roommate) seemed to remember the horrible events that left him an orphan, and could communicate that story? Michael could sign a story about the death of his mom and how he came to live in captivity.

Did you know rats can chew through lead? This is not super-surprising to me, since my rats are so devious and destroy anything they come in contact with.

My point is, we live in an amazing world. I'm especially thankful for all the critters and creatures (most of which I'd like to have as pets.)