Today's Quotations – Teachers:

Central America
A small land with great variety part 2

The number and diversity of plants in this small area of the world is staggering. In the temperate woods of Ohio, where I reside, one can expect to find 25 or 30 species of trees in a one hundred acre area. In an area of the same size in the tropical forests of Central America might find 400 species of trees. This diversity extends to both the plant and animal kingdoms. In the Central American tropics there are more kinds of birds, insects, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. An example of the diversity of mammals can be seen in the number of kinds of bats. In Ohio there are approximately 10 species of bats. The diet of all of these Ohio bats consists of insects. In Costa Rica, which is half the size of Ohio, there are over 100 species of bats. Some of Costa Rica's bats are insectiverous but not all of them. There are bats that drink nectar, bats that catch fish, bats that eat fruit, and even bats that drink the blood of other animals. In Costa Rica alone there are over 750 species of birds, this is the number of species of birds found in the entire United States and Canada combined.

Not only is there great diversity in kinds of animals and plants, but you will find many kinds of plants and animals living in close proximity. In the temperate forests the willows live along the banks of the river. Further up the hills you will find the beech and dogwood trees. In another area the maple trees are prominent. In the jungles of Central America the many kinds of plants and animals live and grow side by side. There is no huge stand of one tree and another stand of a different kind of tree over the hill. This does not mean that they necessarily live cooperatively together. In most cases, quite the opposite is true -- the plants and animals are in very strict competition with each other.

It is a hard and dangerous life in the jungle. Animals need to eat and the plants are a major source of food for them. In order to survive, tropical plants have developed various strategies to protect themselves from being ravaged by the animal population. Growing as an isolated specimen among other species of plants is a form of protection. Plants do not sprout new growth or ripen fruit at specific seasons as do the trees of Ohio. There is a slow constant growth of new leaves and ripening of fruit. Both the constant production of fruit and growth and growing among other species protects the plants from being ravaged at one time by a plague of insects or other animals. Some plants sprout spines and thorns. Some plants will exude toxic resins. Other plants produce fruits that are filled with deadly poisons.

Life is not easy for the animals. Food, especially protein, is hard to come by. The plants are dangerous, competition for food is fierce. The animals are equipped with various means to survive in the jungle. Generally the animals of the Central American jungles are rather small. Small animals require less food. Some animals are able to eat almost anything. The howler monkey has a complex stomach that is populated with bacteria that help to break down otherwise indigestible food. Other animals have found themselves a very small ecological niche where there is little competition from other creatures. The caterpillar of the butterfly, Helicronius, is able to eat leaves of a particular plant that is loaded with cyanide. Other animals would quickly die from such a diet.

God in his wisdom is a great Architect. He has designed a very complex world. The creatures that live in his world have been created with some amazing tools and methods to survive in their world. Tomorrow we will look at some more great designs of God the Creator. 

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."

Joseph Addison

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A fellow stopped at a rural gas station and, after filling his tank, he paid the bill and bought a soft drink. He stood by his car to drink his cola and he watched a couple of men working along the roadside. One man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on. The other man came along behind and filled in the hole. While one was digging a new hole, the other was about 25 feet behind filling in the old. The men worked right past the fellow with the soft drink and went on down the road. "I can't stand this," said the man tossing the can in a trash container and heading down the road toward the men.

"Hold it, hold it," he said to the men. "Can you tell me what's going on here with this digging?"

"Well, we work for the county, " one of the men said.

"But one of you is digging a hold and the other fills it up. You're not accomplishing anything. Aren't you wasting the county's money?"

"You don't understand, mister," one of the men said, leaning on his shovel and wiping his brow. "Normally there's three of us--me, Rodney and Mike. I dig the hole, Rodney sticks in the tree and Mike here puts the dirt back.

Now just because Rodney's sick, that don't mean that Mike and me can't work."

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Bill Clinton is visiting a school. (Lance W. Haverkamp)

According Bill Clinton is visiting a school. In one class, he asks the students if anyone can give him an example of a "TRAGEDY". One little boy stands up and offers, "If my best friend who lives next door was playing in the street when a car came along and killed him, that would be a TRAGEDY."

"No," Clinton says, "That would be an ACCIDENT."

A girl raises her hand. "If a school bus carrying fifty children drove off a cliff, killing everyone involved... that would be a TRAGEDY."

I'm afraid not," explains Clinton. "That is what we would call a GREAT LOSS." The room is silent; none of the other children volunteer.

"What?" asks Clinton. "Isn't there any one here who can give me an example of a TRAGEDY?"

Finally, a boy in the back raises his hand. In a timid voice, he speaks: "If an airplane carrying Bill and Hillary Clinton were blown up by a bomb, *that* would be a TRAGEDY."

"Wonderful!" Clinton beams. "Marvelous! And can you tell me WHY that would be a TRAGEDY?"

"Well," says the boy, "because it wouldn't be an ACCIDENT, and it certainly would be no GREAT LOSS!"

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Q: Did you hear about the two men from the monastery who opened a fast-food
seafood restaurant?

A: One was the fish friar, the other was the chip monk.

From Lorne Strang

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Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, but when they lit a fire in the craft, it sank -- proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it too!

From Gaylene Carpenter

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Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina.  One went to Hollywood and became a famous actor.  The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much.  The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of the two weevils.

From Gaylene Carpenter

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Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused his dentist's Novocaine during root canal work?  He wanted to transcend dental medication.

From Gaylene Carpenter

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As the passengers settled in on a West Coast commuter flight a flight attendant announced, "We'd like you folks to help us welcome our new co-pilot. He'll be performing his first commercial landing for us today, so be sure to give him
a big round of applause when we come to a stop."

The plane made an extremely bumpy landing, bouncing hard two or three times before taxiing to a stop. Still, the passengers applauded.

Then the attendant's voice came over the intercom, "Thanks for flying with us. And don't forget to let our co-pilot know which landing you liked best."

AdamsCathy@aol.com

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TRUE FACT ...

Humans begin laughing at two to three months of age. Six year olds laugh about 300 times per day, while adults laugh from 15 to 100 times per day.

SOURCE: NYT, Dr. William F. Fry, Stanford University

Young at Heart.
Slightly Older in Other Places.

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~ Readiness ~

The clock of life is wound but once,
and no man has the power
to tell just when the hands will stop
at late or early hour.

To lose one's wealth  is sad indeed.
To lose one's health is more.
To lose one's soul is such a loss
that no man can restore.

39 people died while you read this short poem. Every hour 5,417 go to meet their Maker. You could have been among them. Sooner or later you will be. Are you ready?