Or…Beauty and the Biome 

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.
–John Muir, American Naturalist (1838-1914)

Wishing you all a beautiful Earth Day!

While rain showers halted a beach outing, I was able to enjoy beautiful photos/videos of marine life this evening. I even enjoyed a fun painting spree (thanks KB/JB for the watercolor set).

I am looking forward to spending more time in nature.  Wishing you (and your microbiome) many wild adventures!

Behold my anatomically incorrect jellyfish!

…coloring is also creative–but sometimes you need to add brightness to a gray afternoon

PS….

 (Fredski2013)  Cotylorhiza tuberculata, a Mediterranean jellyfish, contains several microbes within its gastric cavity. One of these microbes is an anaerobic, Spiroplasma-like bacterium. In plants, Spiroplasma are usually linked with pathology (e.g. Spiroplasma citri causing citrus stubborn disease) although the C. tuberculata bug, likely doesn’t harm the jellyfish.

For more, see: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28419691, http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PHYTO-06-13-0176-R 

#UNLESS, shoutout to the scientists and those who marched for science today!