Journey through Earth-Time' - Gondwana Alive
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‘Journey through Earth-Time’
During Covid-19 lockdown
‘The Amphitheatre: ourselves on the moon looking down on the Earth—with 20-20
Microcosm of the world’ vision, in the most holistic objective sense. We can see both
across space and time—back to around 300,000 years ago
27 March–22 April 2020 & beyond to 4 July (day 100)
when our species, Homo sapiens, arose, as if it were yesterday;
back to around 10,000 years ago and the Agricultural Revolu-
Do join us on our ‘Journey through Earth-Time’ here at The tion; back to 1769 and the Industrial Revolution.’
Amphitheatre, our suburban home in Pretoria, South Africa. With our super 20-20 vision, how do we perceive it all? We
Over the decades, I’ve spent time creating a ‘Microcosm of the see an exponential explosion in the human population reaching
World’, a sculpture garden’ mostly natural, from the myriad 7,7 billion today, and we see their spreading uncomprehending
rocks brought in from the nearby ridges and from a diversity of “footprint” to every corner of the planet, land and sea. We see
plants. Our Journey is an intertwining of science and art, of left the rest of life dwindling rapidly in abundance and diversity,
and right hemispheres, of ourselves and of the nature around us. in the grip of extinction. We see the Sixth Global Extinction in
startling clarity!’—John (p.147)
By decree, Lockdown began here in South Africa on 27 March.
Since then, I’ve been outside our front gate only a few times— Imagined wonder
to the pavement just beyond. And no-one, besides my wife ‘The wonderful thing about writing fantasy for me is not only
Marijke and I, has been through our front-door (one exception, the imagined wonder, but the fact that as a writer, I can mirror
a plumber for five minutes). Aside from aiming to complete and investigate both myself, others, and society as a whole,
a book on Molteno palaeobotany in this time, I’ve taken the in relative safety. I can highlight through invented characters
opportunity—starting on the first day of lockdown—to travel and worlds, our own world, its inhabitants and their behaviour
back and forth through Earth-Time—posting an image and because fantasy is an extension of reality.’—Ellen (p.154)
accompanying text a day. The photographs are taken almost
invariably that day. John M. Anderson (22 April 2020; minor amendments, 4 July)
Honorary Researcher Assoc.; Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI),
This Covid-19 pandemic, so unique in human history, has had Witwatersrand Univ., Johannesburg.
a devastating effect on so many people’s lives and on economic Associate Prof.; Africa Earth Observatory Network (AEON), Nelson
activity, local and global. But viewed from the broadest per- Mandela University, Port Elizabeth.
spective—see below—it might be taken as trivial compared to
the Sixth Global Extinction that we humans have set alight.
Let us take the coincidence of the 50th anniversary of Earth Earth-Time Pole
Day, 22 April 2020, and this most extraordinary Covid-event,
to work together to create a new tomorrow, embracing all hu-
mans and the multitude of other species sharing our world.
For ‘the children of today’s world and the children of tomor-
row’s world’—Nelson Mandela (1999), from his endorsement
for our ‘Gondwana Alive’ project (initiated 1998).
I quote below three pieces from Ellen Palestrant and my book
‘A Fantasist & A Scientist In Conversation’--completed late
last year and published January 2020.
Earth Day, 22 April 2020
‘Next year, 2020, is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day’
It offers us the ideal symbolic moment to make a global
commitment to the most profound change, to a seemingly
inconceivable shift! Literally towards achieving the impossible! Our blue-green Earth
Talking from within the scientific fraternity, and having been
born into that fraternity, we are on the brink of no return, the
very edge of the precipice.’—John (p.146)
20-20 vision
‘In a specific sense the term refers to perfect vision. …. In a In memory of Maarten de Wit, who passed away unexpectedly
more inclusive sense it takes in contrast, tracking moving ob- on 15 April. For the last 20 years, since 1998, we have worked
jects, depth perception, speed of focus, colour vision. Towards closely together in evolving our Africa Alive, Gondwana Alive
Earth Day 2020, let us expand on the metaphor. Let us picture & Earth Alive projects! He will be sorely missed!
‘The Amphitheatre: ‘Together we can’
Microcosm of the world’ —29 March 2020 (Post 3)
—27 March 2020 (Post 1) For over 400 million years the plants
Do join us on our Journey and insects have co-evolved—through
through Earth-Time here at The thick and thin—filling our world
Amphitheatre between now and the with the prodigiously colourful
50th anniversary of Earth Day on 22 biodiversity that we see around us.
April! Here the little wasp (Dasyproctus)
and the yellow Gazania flower share
Getting to know our Earthly home a moment of symbiotic harmony—
during these weeks of Coronavirus ‘together we can’!
lock-down—a most unique moment
in the 300,000 years of human Photo: Taken in our yard in Pretoria
history! this early-Autumn afternoon.
PS: In the end, we continued our
‘Journey’ through till 4 July—
the 100th day of South Africa’s
lockdown. ‘Earth Day’ came and
went on day 27 of our marathon.
JMA, 27 March 2020
JMA, 29 March 2020
‘Earth-Time Pole’ ‘Living dinosaurs’
—28 March 2020 (Post 2) —30 March 2020 (Post 4)
Our home planet, Earth, is around When a city-sized asteroid hit
4,6 billion years old, with the earliest the Earth 66 million years ago—
signs of life having appeared some 4 ending the Cretaceous Period—the
billion years ago and Homo sapiens dinosaurs disappeared. The birds,
(we humans) especially recently, a an evolutionary branch of that iconic
mere 300,000 years or so back! group, lived through and diversified
greatly.
Our ‘Earth-Time Pole’—once a
volley-ball pole—provides a scale These raucous Hadedas feeding
and shows a simple outline of South at the far end of our lawn are great
African geological history. On our reminders of them.
journey through to Earth Day, 22
April, we’ll touch back to base now
and again.
JMA, 30 March 2020
JMA, 28 March 2020
‘Mother & daughter Meerkat’ ‘Caitlyn’s Pink Orchid’
—31 March 2020 (Post 5) —2 April 2020 (Post 7)
Our eager pair of Meerkats (Suricata Caitlyn Rose of LonderLand, our
suricatta)—the dearest little creatures granddaughter over in London, turns
of the South African Karoo—peer 11 on 17 April. This beautiful pink
up at the Earth-Time Pole. They’re orchid growing on the Chinese elm
settling their gaze half-way up the has bloomed faithfully for quite a run
pole at around the year 2,3 billion of years now, as it’s doing currently,
years BP, when our Earth literally to celebrate her birthday.
rusted, when the first great iron-rich Most years the family has joined
sediments were deposited. us here at our place for Caitlyn’s
It is from these that they and so many birthday, and for Easter. Not this
other mammals and birds that share year, sadly, with the world in Corona-
our world and enjoy a spot in our lockdown!
gardens were crafted.
JMA, 31 March 2020
JMA, 2 April 2020
‘Quartet of Honey bees’ ‘Earth Alive’
—1 April 2020 (Post 6) —3 April 2020 (Post 8)
In just 2 months through November ‘A’ is for Earth Alive, for The
and December 2014 here at Amphitheatre, and for Anderson!
The Amphitheatre—indoors It tops our ‘Snuffbox Hill’, built from
and outdoors—we collected or a collection of snuffbox-weathered
photographed close on 250 species of ironstone rocks from the Timeball-
insects (in 67 families and 16 orders). Hill Formation dating to 2,3 billion
The Honey bee (Apis cf mellifera), years, just on half the age of the
one of the most common of these in Earth.
our Microcosm, is far from alone.
The Hoopoe and Crane, nestled
This busy foursome were photo’d this amongst the Tickey creeper (Ficus
morning on the Strelitzia near the pumilla), owe their presence to the
front door. iron mined from this or equivalent
geological horizons.
JMA, 1 April 2020
JMA, 3 April 2020
‘Synchrodestiny’ ‘A moment of diversity’
—4 April 2020 (Post 9) —6 April 2020 (Post 11)
Towards the 50th anniversary of We see here three species of insect,
Earth Day, 22 April 2020. The twin-S in three distinct orders, out in the
sculpture in our garden embraces midday sun feeding around the same
20+20 banded ironstones from the daisy table.
Dasspoort Formation ridge (dating to
Or in more scientific terms, a
2,2 billion years) that runs through
ladybird beetle (Coleoptera), a fly
Pretoria. The diversely patterned
(Diptera) and a thrips (Thysaneura)
rocks, so colourfully evident in the
are seen collectively feeding on
four close-up photos, symbolise our
the Marguerite (Chrysanthemum
human diversity. There are 7,7 billion
frutescens) of the Asteraceae family
of us globally, each with a differently
of angiosperms (flowering plants).
programmed brain. We are our brains!
Our sculpture portrays the call for an With around 30,000 species, the
entirely new tomorrow—through the Asteraceae (Daisies) are the most
creative cooperation of all humans diverse of the flowering-
everywhere! plant families. No wonder
they have diversified so
2020 vision!
exuberantly, with the
Seeing the past, present and future,
insects so attracted to
using all our senses optimally.
them.
All of us humans, along with the
tens of millions of other species
worldwide, are in this together!
JMA, 4 April 2020
JMA, 6 April 2020
‘Midway through Earth-Time’
—7 April 2020 (Post 12)
Our ‘Amphitheatre’, in the Eastern
‘I talk to the Birds’ suburbs of Pretoria, lies near the heart
—5 April 2020 (Post 10)
of one of Earth’s earliest micro-
Entering our podium bird event of the continents (known as the Kaapvaal
day is one of my regular diary entries. Craton). The multitude of rocks we’ve
The Burchell’s coucal angling across gathered here in the garden are mostly
the lawn to have a mid-afternoon from the three ridges running East-
rendezvous with the Meerkats in our West through the city. The sandstones
‘Earth-Time Park’ got top-billing for and ironstones forming these ridges,
today. Being rather reclusive, we hear now tilted up and dipping to the north,
the Coucal—with that characteristic were originally deposited in an inland
descending-ascending bubbling-liquid sea on that ancient continent.
call—a lot more often that we see her. Collectively the whole geological
And never before has she sojourned sequence, deposited over 600 million
JMA, 7 April 2020, 6:48 AM
with the Meerkats in this friendly years (from 2,650-2,080 bill. yrs
way. ago), is known as the Transvaal
Supergroup. I list the three ridges,
noted above, from youngest to oldest:
Magaliesberg Formation., c2,1 bill. yrs,
Dasspoort Formation, c2,2 bill. yrs,
Timeball Hill Formation., c2,3 bill. yrs.
In the photo, the path ‘Ripplemark
Way’ winding towards the pool, is
layed from Magaliesberg sandstone
slabs; the distant wooded horizon
JMA, 5 April 2020
seen through the ‘Windows’ is
the Dasspoort ridge; and the two
‘Snuffbox Hills’ in the foreground are
built from Timeball Hill ironstones.
‘Table Mountain’ ‘Protea & the Cape Fynbos’
—8 April 2020 (Post 13) —10 April 2020 (Post 15)
As I view it, Table Mountain is There are six floral kingdoms
surely the most iconic mountain on recognized worldwide. The whole
Earth. From the broadest perspective, of the northern hemisphere north of
geologically, biologically, latitude 30° N, is one, almost all of
anthropologically, historically, Africa plus SE Asia is another; the
culturally, it is unmatched. And, of southernmost tip of Africa, the Cape
course, there is its stark beauty! We’ll Floral Kingdom, miniscule in size
explore all this as we head further compared to the rest, is the sixth. The
along our Earth-Time journey. Cape Fynbos—clothing the Cape
Fold Mountains—comprises 80%
The upper photo shows Table Mt—on
of the Kingdom; and includes some
our Earth-Alive laptop screen in the
8,600 plant species, 5,800 of which
study—as seen from Robben Island.
are endemic, unique to it.
The lower photo shows a triptych
looking out across False Bay with Protea (family Proteaceae), with
Table Mt to the right. It was painted over 80 species in South Africa, is the
by my sister-in-law Freda back in most readily recognised and loved
2009 and hangs on the dining-room genus characterising the Fynbos. Our
wall. National cricket team, the Proteas,
has after all taken up the name! The
flowers photo’d here are from the
Protea bush at the near-end of the
JMA, 8 April 2020
pool.
JMA, 11 April 2020
‘Comradeship capensis’
—9 April 2020 (Post 14) ‘Cape Turtle Dove’
—11 April 2020 (Post 16)
The Cape honeysuckle (Tecomaria
capensis), an attractive scrambling She’s restfully soaking in the early
shrub indigenous to South Africa, morning sun atop our feeding tray.
occurs naturally along forest margins Comically, the Cape turtle dove’s
and in valley bushveld all along the call is a much-repeated ‘work harder,
eastern and southern coastal belt of work harder ……. ‘. They’re pretty
the country. common here and through southern
Africa, and the call is a regular part of
It is a favourite in our gardens and our bird-song background.
is quite evidently a favourite also
of the ants. This ubiquitous group We have six species of doves and
of insects (family Formicidae in pigeons (Columbidae) co-habiting the
the order Hymenoptera) have been Amphitheatre and neighbourhood:
around close on 100 million years, the Redeyed dove, Cape turtle
since midway through the Cretaceous. dove, Laughing dove, Rameron
And they have spread to great pigeon, Rock pigeon and Green
diversity, an estimated 22,000 species. pigeon (listed in decreasing order
Interestingly, the total biomass of ants of abundance). All contribute
and of humans is seemingly about distinctively to the avian chorus.
equal, there being something like 1
million ants for every human.
JMA, 11 April 2020
JMA, 9 April 2020
‘The last billion years’ ‘Heyday of the Gymnosperms’
—12 April 2020 (Post 17) —14 April 2020 (Post 19)
See here the upper fifth of our Earth-Time As a hands-on timescale, let us think of our
Pole, from 1 billion years ago to the present. sun and solar system orbiting around the
Marked out on it are Snowball Earth, the Milky Way galaxy. This takes around 225
Cape Supergroup and the Karoo Supergroup. to 250 million years—a cosmic year. In
Each spans some 150 million years. approximate terms, the Molteno Fm was
being deposited one revolution of the galaxy
In the very simplest of terms, our Earth, back (and Table Mountain about two
never still, always changing, froze from revolutions back).
around 800 to 650 million years ago. It
became a snowball (an iceball). The polar So, let’s journey back through time from
icecaps expanded to meet at the equator. today, the diversity heyday of the angiosperms
JMA, 11 April 2020
This was a critical turning point. From (flower-bearing plants). One cosmic year
4 billion years ago till this moment, life back, we find ourselves looking through the
on Earth was microscopic and essentially Molteno window onto the ‘Heyday of the
unicellular—bacteria and their like. After Gymnosperms’ (cone-bearing plants). And
the snowball melted, there was an explosion two cosmic years back, we find ourselves
of macroscopic life, first in the oceans (at treading the shores of the inland seaway in
c600 myrs), later on land (at c440 myrs). which the sands of Table Mountain were
From that melting till today, and through being deposited. Incredibly there are no plants
five cataclysmic global extinction events, anywhere to be seen; they haven’t yet found a
life has evolved to the splendour seen today. foothold out on land.
The Cape and Karoo Supergroups Indeed, a considerable amount of change
(geological successions) together cover takes place during Earth’s galactic orbits.
JMA, 11 April 2020
a large part of South Africa. And like Top photo: cleaved Molteno slab (Waldeck
palaeontological textbooks, as rich as
JMA, 13 April 2020
site), dominated by Dicroidium leaves; they
anywhere globally, they tell a great part of hang on our lounge wall.
the evolving story of life from c500 to 175 Lower photo: our 3 Molteno volumes in the
myrs ago. But more of that as we meander SANBI Strelitzia series (2003, 2007, 2008).
through the coming lockdown days.
Age (Myrs)
Period
Extinc- Continental Drift
tions
6 th ‘The Plant Time-Tree’
0 0
M
Heyday of the —13 April 2020 (Post 18)
20 Angiosperms 20
Cenozoic
Origin & spread At Maclear’s Beacon marking the
40
60
L of grasslands
highest spot on Table Mountain
40
60
‘The Insect Time-Tree’
5 th
one finds a small outcrop of glacial —15 April 2020 (Post 20)
80 80
deposits. It tells of the end-Ordovician
U
Evolutionary harmony to perfection—
Cretaceous
100 Diversification of 100
flowering plants global glaciation; and of the First as portrayed in these Plant and Insect
Global Extinction event (at c444
120 L 120
Time-Trees (still requiring much fine
myrs) affecting macroscopic life
140 140
U tuning)! How good it would be to
following Snowball Earth.
160 160
Jurassic
180
M
180
invite Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-
L
As happens after each of the five global 1750) to write an Easter Oratorio
200 200
4 th
around this intertwining story.
extinction events, given some millions
Triassic
220 U Heyday of the Triassic 220
Gymnosperms Explo- Molteno 228 of years, there is a great renewal of life, Molteno 233
228
240 sion 233 240 Consider just the flowering plants
260
U 3 rd
an explosion of new diversity. 260 and the pollinating insects, bursting
Devonian Carboniferous Permian
M
280
L Harmonising science and art, allowing 280 into co-diversity through 140 million
300 Heyday of the Diversification of some visual liberty, the Plant and 300
Guestimates are that
perhaps 100 million
years from the early Cretaceous
320
U Pteridophytes seed plants
Insect Time-Trees sprout atop Table 320
insect species have First larvae through till today. The Big Four
JMA, adapted 14 April 2020
JMA, adapted 14 April 2020
lived at one or other
320 320
340 L Mt! The roots of those Trees may be 340
time & clambered on
this 425 million-year-
pollinating orders—Coleoptera
360 2nd imagined growing in the soils atop 360
old timetree. (beetles), Hymenoptera (ants, wasps,
380
U
Key Origin of arboreal
plants (trees) our ‘most iconic mountain’—at c440 380
First folded wings bees), Diptera (flies) and Lepidoptera
400
M
angiosperms
myrs. Before deposition of Table Mt, 400
First wings (butterflies, moths)--include 80% of
gymnosperms Origin of vascular plants (higher
the nearly 1 million described insect
L
Climate change
420 U
pteridophytes land plants with specialised tubes the continental landscape was bare of 420 Reference (Insect Timetree)
species around today.
420 420
for conducting water & minerals)
Hannah Hannah
Silur-
visible life; after it’s deposition, plant Anderson, Bonner et al. (2016)
ian
440 L Bonner 2018 Reference (Plant Timetree) 440 Bonner 2016
1st Hannah Bonner, Satu Jovero and animal life arose—leading to the
& John Anderson (2018)
majestic diversity we now know.
‘Africa Alive Corridors’ (AAC) ‘Into our kitchens’
—16 April 2020 (Post 21) —18 April 2020 (Post 23)
We show here a triptych of sandstone The six most diverse angiosperm
sculptures: ‘Gondwana Alive’ (GA), (flowering plant) families, showing
‘Earth Alive’ (EA) and ‘Africa Alive’ the main foodstuffs included in them.
AA). GA is clearly spelled out by two 1. Asteraceae (24,000 species)
large eroded slabs; EA is represented Sunflower, lettuce, artichoke,
by four ripple-marked slabs; and tarragon, chicory.
AA by a host of slabs, smaller and 2. Orchidaceae (18,000 species)
larger, showing the outline of Africa. Vanilla (custard)
Aside from our Molteno fossil- 3. Fabaceae (17,000 species)
plant research, these three projects, Beans, peas, soya, lentels,
involving numerous contributors, are peanuts, clover.
concerned with change, mega-change, 4. Poaceae (9,000 species)
in the face of the 6th Extinction, and Maize, wheat, oats, barley,
absorb the rest of my creative time! millet, rice.
The ‘Africa Alive Corridors’ 5. Rubiaceae (7,000 species)
concept traces out a series of 20 Coffee
Heritage Corridors, around 50 km 6. Euphorbaceae (5,000 species)
wide and 1-2,000 km or more long, Manihot (cassava)
criss-crossing the continent. Each Angiosperm foodstuffs
GA AA includes 20 Heritage Nodes and tells
a chapter—geological, biological or
(c180 species, 58 families)
Angiosperm diversity
EA cultural--in the c4 billion-year story
of our home continent. The ‘simple’
(c352,000 species, 331 families)
JMA, 16 April 2020
JMA, 18 April 2020
We are what we eat!
idea is to draw in all 1-billion persons
We are one with the flowering plants!
living in Africa to become proud co-
Imagine if any of these branches on
curators, stewards, of their uniquely
the plant tree had not arisen!
rich heritage. A new tomorrow!
‘Onto our tables’
‘Unto the next generation’ —19 April 2020 (Post 24)
—17 April 2020 (Post 22)
And today, the 12 most diverse
Whether an orchid or human, it’s families yielding our primary
all about the next generation. About foodstuffs.
sending our genes out into the future 1. Brassicaceae (cabbage)—14 species
as successfully as we are able! 2. Apiaceae (carrot)—14 species
In the vibrant colour and architecture 3. Rosaceae (rose)—12 species
of their flowers, these two species of 4. Asteraceae (daisy)—12 species
orchid are clear witness to how well 5. Solanaceae (potato)—11 species
their earlier generations down through 6. Fabaceae (bean)—11 species
the aeons have carried out their role 7. Poaceae (grass)—10 species
in life. After the Asteraceae (daisies), 8. Cucurbitaceae (melon)—10 species
the Orchidaceae (orchids) are the 9. Lamiaceae (mint)—10 species
most diverse of the flowering-plant 10. Rutaceae (citrus)—7 species
families—with some 18,000 species 11. Amaranthaceae (beetroot)—6 species
worldwide. 12. Liliaceae (onion)—5 species
‘Caitlyn’s Pink Orchid’ and If the flowering plant tree had not
‘Rickleby’s Yellow Orchid’ are in spread its branches through the past
vibrant bloom here celebrating for 150 million years, we humans would
us the birthdays of Caitlyn Rose of not have arisen. All 7,7 billion of us
Londerland, 11 years old today, and feed ‘daily’ from this most bountiful
Rickleby of Plettenberg, 9 years old tree. It sustains us. Fell it, and we
JMA, 17 April 2020
JMA, 19 April 2020
two days back. They’re our beloved are gone! Fell any of its most foody
Easter grandkids. branches, and we’d know all about it!
‘Homo sapiens Corridor’ ‘Earth Day 2020’
—20 April 2020 (Post 25) —22 April 2020 (Post 27)
Our seed table here in the lounge How bizarre, that a simple fat-coated
pictures South Africa: with the pods protein molecule—Covid-19—
and seeds showing the onshore can threaten 7,7 billion humans
portion and the shells offshore. All— worldwide! And how coincidental
collected a few decades back—are that it should send us into global
indigenous to SA. lockdown at just this time that we
celebrate the 50th anniversary of
We are looking East along the
Earth Day!
southern Cape coast, passing
Cape Town and Table Mountain This is an historical moment we
and heading across towards Port simply cannot let slip by. Let us shout
Elizabeth. This coastal strip is of the from every tree-top in every forest
greatest interest anthropologically and woodland around our world, for
in unravelling the history of Homo seemingly impossible change. Our
sapiens, we humans. Whilst it is human footprint is relentless; the
scientifically recognised that Africa Sixth Global Extinction is in our
is the place of origin of our species hands, and is flaring out of control.
some 300,000 years ago, it is along Our pillars of human governance—
this coastline for most of the last Nationalism, Capitalism, Democracy,
200,000 years that our story is best Rule-of-law, Military, Religion--are
told. From a long string of sites, toppling, unable to stem the tide.
coastal caves, shell middens, rock-art
Let’s repeat our call for ‘the children
shelters, we can track our cultural
Marijke, 22 April 2020
of today’s world and the children of
evolution as hunter-gatherers.
JMA, 20 April 2020
tomorrow’s world’—Nelson Mandela
We have come to call this 1,000km (1998).
strip the ‘Homo sapiens Corridor’.
‘The last 1,000 years’ ‘A new tomorrow’
—21 April 2020 (Post 26) —23 April 2020 (Post 28)
‘Millennium’ is our name for this Peering through to the early morning
indoor sculpture in the dining room. sun lighting up the Dasspoort
It tracks the history of Western Ridge—source of our 2,2 billion-
civilisation from 1,000 to 2,000 AD. year old ‘Synchrodestiny’ banded-
ironstones (Post 9).
The 10 candle-holders are turned from
apricot wood. They represent, in their Imagine a world where we are one.
varied features, the 10 centuries of the In which Nationalism is a thing of
Millennium. The pairs of small cherty the past, there are no 200 countries
stones—eroded from the White cliffs striving against one another! And
of Dover and equivalents in England, where an evolving Democracy
represent major characters, Charles embraces all of life, with the birds
Darwin, Isaac Newton et al., or fields and the bees voting by proxy! And
of activity, philosophy, music etc. Capitalism has morphed to optimise
the lives of everyone! And the law is
Humanity, and our world, have
updated daily, recognising all current
changed unrecognisably in this brief
knowledge! And the Military has
moment in time—from the Gothic
no further purpose for guns! And
Middle Ages, through the Renaissance
Religion soaks in Mother Earth and
to the fractured 20th C with its World
the stunning diversity of nature!
Wars. The peak turning points: the
printing press (Guthenberg, 1454), the ‘A new tomorrow’!
Scientific Revolution (Copernicus,
Marijke, 22 April 2020
1543), the Industrial Revolution
JMA, 23 April 2020
(Watt’s steam engine, 1769), the germ-
theory of disease (Pasteur, 1867).
And here we are 20 years into the
next Millennium. Turmoil!
‘Handful of rainbows’ ‘Climate change’
—24 April 2020 (Post 29) —26 April 2020 (Post 31)
Red: Protea, Pentas, Callistemon, Thunder, lightning and hail from the
Hibiscus, Geranium. North!
Orange: Strelitzia, Marigold, Tecomaria,
It began with the faintest drizzle at
Gazania, Bulbine.
around 5:00pm today; then followed
Yellow: Calibrachoa, Euryops, Orchid,
a typical thunder-storm; and then the
Senecio, Tecomaria.
fierce clatter of hailstones pelting
Green: Mint, Lettuce, Oreganum,
down a little after 6:00pm for perhaps
Peace in the home, Ivy.
15 minutes; then back to rain; and by
Blue: Plumbago, Felicea, Lobelia,
about 7:00pm, silence—46,0mm in
Strelitzia, Lavender.
the rain-guage!
Indigo: Solanum, Heliotropium, Salvia
Viola, Cape gooseberry. The hailstorm tore in from the North,
Violet: Viola, Solonaceae, Knotweed, angling in to strike our North-facing
Cuphea, Chives. windows. The stone pathway running
below these lounge windows were
Flowers, filling our world with colour!
covered with hail; the stoep (veranda)
Strange, as in the kitchen, blue, the
thickly covered with leaves, the
most prevalent colour around our
table, chairs and cushions sodden; the
planet—the oceans, the sky—is the
yellow orchid on the ‘Sleeper table’
hardest to come by in our gardens.
(made from railway sleepers) de-
And then there’s green—the middle flowered!
colour of the rainbow—with it’s own
Never before in five decades here has
special job: leaves, photosynthesis,
Marijke, 26 April 2020
such a storm from out that way struck
JMA, 24 April 2020
energy!
in such a manner! Climate change,
All photographs taken today! Gauteng style!
‘Autumn leaves’ ‘Plants of the World’
—25 April 2020 (Post 30) —27 April 2020 (Post 32)
And concurrently, our trio of You might try it. Check out the place
Liquidambars are showing their of origin of the plants in your kitchen
Autumn colours! and around your garden; plot this out
1 7 12 16 on a world map, and you’ll also feel
We get the real sense of enjoying 13
2 one with the Earth.
a backpacking weekend in the 8 14 15
Appallations during the Fall. With 3 11 From here at home we’ve taken
their five-pointed star-shaped leaves, 4 5 a selection of just 30 well-known
9
these American sweetgum trees are plants—from trees and flowers to
common in the woodlands of the 6 17 18 fruit and herbs—and plotted them.
10
South-Eastern USA. 19 The map shows us an embracing
20 worldwide distribution.
When our grandkids, Tyler and Blake,
are here in Summer from Doha Speaking of lockdown, we list below
(Qatar), they have big fun collecting All images from the internet 10 of the fruit and vegetable species
the ‘spiky balls’, the bristly fruit, that 1. N. America—Sunflower, blueberries 11. Persia—Carrots plotted. These are amongst the top
fall as prolifically in the summer as 2. SE USA—Liquidambar 12. Georgia—Grapes 20 generally recognised healthiest
do the leaves in Autumn. Using metal foodstuffs: blueberries, tomatoes,
Compiled, JMA & Petrus Kruger, 27 April 2020
3. Caribbean—Fuchsia 13. Iran—Pomogranate, almonds
braaivleis (barbecue) tongs for this 4. Central America—Avocado 14. S. Asia/India— Mulberry avocadoes, walnuts, broccoli, grapes,
purpose is great for their dexterity. 5. S. America (NW)—Potato, tomatoe 15. China—Oranges, lemons, Chinese elm almonds, ginger, lemons and bananas.
6. S. America (C&S)—Jacaranda, Bougainvillea 16. East Asia—Ticky creeper Their origins span the world West to
With a pretty rich intermingling of 7. Britain/N&SW Europe—Walnut, daffodil 17. Pacific Islands—Ginger East.
indigenous South African and exotic 8. Mediterranean—Rosemary, Broccoli 18. New Guinea—Banana
global plants growing here, we do get 9. Central Africa—Basil 19. Australia—Bluegum, macadania
the feeling of being a microcosm of 10. South Africa—Protea, Strelitzia 20. New Zealand—Kiwi fruit
JMA, 25 April 2020
the world.
‘Rhus Ramp’ ‘Philosopher’s Ridge’
—28 April 2020 (Post 33) —30 April 2020 (Post 35)
Shifting now from exotic to Each sandstone slab, mostly from
indigenous biodiversity. ‘Rhus the Magaliesberg range (deposited
Ramp’, one of our 43 stretches of 2.1 billion years back), represents—
pathway weaving their way around through clear-cut features—one of
our Amphitheatre ‘Microcosm’, is the most influential of the earlier
particularly biodiverse with trees, philosophers of Classical Greece
climbers and shrubs native to South (c500-250 BC). The best known in
Africa. This stretch of home-grown chronological order:
woodland, previously a steeply
Socrates: hypothesis & debate
sloping stretch of lawn, is dominated
Democritus: earliest concept of the atom
by four species of Rhus (R. glauca, R.
Hippocrates: medicine, Hippocratic oath
lancea, R. pentheri and R. pyroides,
Plato: critical examination of all knowledge
just 4 of the 23 species recognised
Heracleides: Earth rotates on its axis
in South Africa). Other favourites
Aristotle: inventor of logic
amongst the 15 or so species are
Theophrastus: father of botany.
Combretum bracteosum, a scrambler
with a fine spray of red flowers, and Their philosophy held sway for some
Maytenus undata, whose flowers host 2,000 years. Then came Nicolaus
numerous kinds of insect. Copernicus (Polish, 1473-1543) who
toppled the Earth from the centre of
Cashew (Shae), our younger
the universe! This in his book ‘The
granddaughter (now 6) from Plettenberg
Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies’,
Bay midway along the ‘Homo sapiens
Marijke, 30 April 2020
published in 1543, the year he died! The
Corridor’, has always called for
JMA, 28 April 2020
Scientific Revolution was ignited!
Grandpa John to join in pushing her
pram up the Ramp; her favourite bit of Now, close on 500 years later, the
the perambulatory. It’s been my job to coronavirus pandemic! And science
negotiate the rockier bits. trumps politics!
‘Far-end Highway’ ‘Classical Greek philosophers’
—29 April 2020 (Post 34) —1/2 May 2020 (Post 36)
As I wrote in our ‘Grandpa John’s We portray here five of the best
Amphitheatre Book’ (2019): ‘In known of our Greek philosophers
the outside world, I am a definite (above) and touch on the symbolism
highway-phobe, but here it’s quite seen in the sandstone slabs
different. This highway is hugely representing each.
frequented and links everything to Socrates: hypothesis & debate
everything else across the breadth of Stratification; conversation
the garden’. I received a dedicated Democratus: earliest concept of the atom
Democritus
printed copy from daughter Clara— Particles; units within the whole
who lovingly put our most-colourful Hippocrates: medicine, Hippocratic oath
biographic volume together—on 22 Arrow; ethics pointing the way
Socrates
April, Earth Day 2019. Plato: critical examination of all knowledge
Height; overarching perspective
I should have said across the far-
Heracleides: Earth rotates on its axis
end of the garden. At any rate, this
Ripple marks; motion
network of 43 sections of pathway
together constitute our ‘Microcosm’ Hippocrates We leapfrog through Earth time:
perambulatory in honour of Charles from 2,1 billion years ago,
Darwin (1809-1882), whose & one of Earth’s earliest continents;
‘Sandwalk’ at his country home Down to 2,5 thousand years ago,
House to the south of London, has & the first great flow of philosophy;
long been a special inspiration to me. to the present.
JMA, 29 April 2020
JMA, 1 May 2020
Why 43 sections of our Earnestly seeking a new way forward.
Perambulatory: I was born in 1943,
the 400th anniversary of the Scientific Heracleides
Plato
Revolution in 1543.‘Birds of the Amphitheatre’ ‘Of Birds & Bowls’
—3/4 May 2020 (Post 37) —5/6 May 2020 (Post 39)
It crosses one’s mind, not Some birds are insectivorous and
infrequently, how different our world some are seed eaters, but all love a
would be if the birds had disappeared, good splash in the bowls and some
along with their kin the dinosaurs, fresh water to drink. So this then is
at the 5th global Extinction event! a favourite venue for all our avian
What a catastrophic blow that was residents and visitors.
when a massive asteroid struck the
Over these past three days of early
Earth 66 million years ago at the end
May, we’ve seen and/or photo’d no
of the Cretaceous, wiping out such
less than 12 species of our winged
a swathe of life! But the birds made
friends vising the water bowls.
it through—with their colour, their
song, their flight, their migrations, Here’s a simple list in rough
their intermingling with everything descending order of frequency or
else! abundance:
The Redeyed dove and the Rameron Olive thrush, Cape sparrow,
pigeon peer out westwards towards Blackeyed bulbul, Cape turtle dove,
the late-afternoon sun—from atop the Laughing dove, Red-eyed dove,
Masked weaver, Bronze mannikins,
pine tree diagonally across the road.
Cape white eyes, Greyheaded sparrow,
As the Autumn deepens into Winter, Thickbilled weaver, Cape robin.
our five species of dove and pigeons
that appear hereabouts gather in the
highest dryest treetops in increasing
Marijke, 5 May 2020
numbers to absorb the sunlight.
JMA, 3 May 2020
‘Bronze mannikins’ ‘From Hydrogen to Birds’
—4/5 May 2020 (Post 38) —6/7 May 2020 (Post 40)
A family of 4 Bronze mannikins As seen from the deepest 2020
resting briefly after enjoying some perspective—heading back to the
lunch. On this occasion there were origin of our solar system 4,6 billion
up to six of them at the seed table. years ago—the birds are wonderfully
Though over the years, we have seen intricate sculptures crafted from
as many as 14 visiting the seed table Hydrogen. As is the water (Hydrogen
and/or the water bowls nearby at any and Oxygen) they’re drinking—only
one time. a good bit simpler.
Bird biodiversity What a sculptor the sun has been over
Global: c10,000 species all these billions of years. And what
Southern Africa: c900 species energy it has forged that keeps us
The Amphitheatre (5 decades): c95 spp all going. Put simply: atomic energy
since lockdown (total): c30 spp (fusion), released as Hydrogen atoms
since lockdown (weekly): c20 spp in vast quantities fuse to form Helium
Our diversity counts here at the atoms.
Amphitheatre include birds seen
Figuratively we are one;
flying overhead, and those seen from
sculpted from the same block.
here on nearby trees or down the road
Literally we are one;
(by eye or binoculars).
assembled from the same
atoms and elements.
JMA & Marijke, 5/6 May 2020
Whether water, ceramic bowl,
bird or human!
JMA, 4 May 2020
Fashioned from the same Lego set!‘Full moon’ ‘VE Day 75’
—7 May 2020 (Post 41) —8 May 2020 (Post 43)
Can you observe the moon, whether From Windsor Castle today, VE Day,
new or full, without thinking back to Queen Elizabeth addressed the nation.
when Neil Armstrong made those
Her core message: ‘Never give up,
first human footsteps on her surface?
never despair’! ..... ‘Our streets are not
His unforgettable words (21 July,
empty; they are filled with the love and
1969), ‘That’s one small step for man,
the care that we have for each other’!
one giant leap for mankind’! That was
over 50 years ago now. Incredible! And up and down those UK streets
the people sang,
And how audacious those words
‘We’ll meet again
of US President John F. Kennedy
Don’t know where
eight years earlier (25 May, 1961): ‘I
Don’t know when
believe that this nation should commit
But I know we’ll meet again some
itself to achieving the goal, before this
sunny day’
decade is out, of landing a man on
—the words (of 1939) sung to such
the moon and returning him safely to
effect by Vera Lynn in the Second
Earth’.
World War; and by soldiers heading
Put our minds to it, and we can off to the front, and by their families
achieve the seemingly impossible! and loved ones stuck back home.
And how those words filled the air
again along the streets of the UK on this
75th anniversary of VE Day (‘Victory
Marijke, 7 May 2020
in Europe’, celebrating an end to the
JMA, 8 May 2020
2nd World War)! For close on six years,
the world had gone into madness mode!
I was born in London in mid-1943, in
King George VI Winston Churchill
the midst of the mayhem!
3 ‘The first 1,5 billion years’ ‘Holistic United World’
—8 May 2020 (Post 42) —9 May 2020 (Post 44)
From the birth of the solar system to We illustrate ‘Smuts Hill’, another of our
the birth of life! 43 garden sculptures—symbolising the
Holistic concept and a United World!
The Barberton (Makonjwa)
Mountains are the earliest known ‘Holistic’: ‘the whole is greater than
stretch of exposed oceanic landscape the sum of its parts’, everything is
on Earth. For half a billion years interrelated and interconnected.
(3,560-3,060 billion years ago), ‘United World’: the next mutation of
the volcanics and sediments of this the ‘United Nations’!
Barberton Mountains landscape were being cemented
Ocean Earth
Jan Smuts (1870-1950)
into one of Earth’s earliest proto-
Smuts was a great polymath. Aside
continents.
from being a 2-term Prime Minister
These mountains, now a World of South Africa, a general in the
Moon Heritage site to the south of the Boer War, a top law graduate from
Kruger National Park in South Africa, Cambridge, he was an active field
claim a remarkable pair of firsts botanist. And he was arguably the
regarding the origin of life on Earth. key figure in the birth of the League
Compiled, JMA & Petrus Krüger, 8 May 2020
Ocean Earth Firstly we find the earliest-known of Nations (1919) and the United
4 fossil bacteria-like micro-organisms Nations (1945). And it was he who
of the oceanic realm (at c3,47 billion gave us the word ‘Holistic’, in his
years), and secondly of the emergent book ‘Holism & Evolution’ (1926)!
continental landscape (at c3,22
For a good part of his adult life, Smuts
billion years)!
lived on a stretch of land S of Pretoria.
JMA, 9 May 2020
N Beyond his house is a dolomitic hill up
U
V M
which he regularly walked. Our hill is
M E from those same dolomites—dating to
J
S around 2,5 billion years.‘The Agricultural Revolution’ ‘Liquidambars’
—10 May 2020 (Post 45) —12 May 2020 (Post 47)
Homo sapiens arose c300,000 ago Back to the Liquidambars and
somewhere in Africa; and at c70,000 their Autumn leaves (Post 30 of 25
years we began our colonisation April), such a distinctive part of our
of the world out of Africa. Centred environment as we don our jerseys and
around 12,000 years ago, a major our scarves as the nights lengthen.
bout of deglaciation ending the
Just think of all the poetry, the
Pleistocene glacial epoch, brought in
Romantic poetry, written around the
the Holocene epoch. This rounded out
changing seasons of the year.
a regular c100,000-year Milankovich
Here’s a couple of lines from
cycle of mega-climate change that
my maternal grandfather, Robert
has accompanied our human span on
Stephenson—from his printed booklet
Earth. Such mega-cycles are entirely
‘38 Sonnets’ (composed 1896-1956):
natural, caused primarily by the shift
‘Steep slopes decked out in Autumn’s
of our world’s orbit about the sun
varied tints,
from circular to elliptical.
Brought to a welcome halt our long
With this Climate change to more day’s march;’
human-friendly times came the
This particular sonnet, ‘Walking in
Agricultural Revolution—in the
September’, from the opening sector of
Middle East c11,600 years back! And
his booklet with a series of 12 poems,
the world changed!
one for each month of the year. Grandpa
Our garden sculpture, with its three Stephenson lived in Bradford, Yorkshire,
clay pots, portrays Gobekli Tepe and knew well the hills and dales!
JMA, 10 May 2020
JMA, 12 May 2020
(where the Revolution began)—with
The photo shows the Liquidambars as
its three circular megalithic structures.
seen from our bedroom—taken this
Near the southern border of today’s
morning with the rising sun rendering
Turkey, the site shows evidence of
the foliage.
the first village-like concentration of
persons, of hierarchy, of organised
religion, and the birth of agriculture. ‘Daffodils’
—13 May 2020 (Post 48)
I wandered lonely as a cloud
‘The Industrial Revolution’ That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
—11 May 2020 (Post 46) When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
And then, just 250 years ago, in 1769,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
with James Watt’s steam engine
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
in England, came the Industrial
—William Wordsworth (1815)
Revolution (symbolised by the metal
objects in the sculpture); and the Daffodils (Narcissus, family
world changed dramatically again. Amaryllidaceae), so evocative of the
The merest 200 years later we had Spring in Europe. So contrasting with
set those first footprints of ours upon the Autumn leaves of the Liquidambar.
the moon (1969). And now everyone
Seasons: of poetry and of science!
walks about with their cell phones.
So why the four seasons each year as
The human population has exploded
we orbit the sun; such a part of our
from c500 million in 1769 to close
lives, and of all of life on Earth. We
on 7,8 billion today! Our global
go back to around 4,540 billion years
population at around 10,000 years
ago. Our Earth was still in a molten
ago (at the time of the Agricultural
state and was struck by a planetary
Revolution) was perhaps 4 million.
body perhaps the size of Mars. That
We see a typical exponential curve: distant collision brought about two
Marijke, 13 May 2020
from one family (in c300,000 BP); to fundamental aspects of life today: our
JMA, 11 May 2020
4 million persons (12,000 BP); to 500 moon, from the consolidation of the
million (1769); to 2 billion (1950); to 4 debris hurled out into space; and the
billion (1975); to 6 billion (2000AD); seasons, due to the 23° tilt of Earth’s
to 7,8 billion persons today! axis caused by it.‘Goldilocks Zone’ ‘An enigma of vertebrates’
—14 May 2020 (Post 49) —16 May 2020 (Post 51)
Of the eight sister planets orbiting our Gathered together here in ‘Fern
sun, Earth is the only one occupying the Canyon’, we witness a conference of
‘Goldilocks Zone’—the habitable zone, vertebrates.
that is! Around this, we find another fun
The dinosaur and the crocodile; the
marriage between Science and Art.
giraffe, hippo and elephant; the Yellow
The habitable zone around the sun and Redbilled hornbills, and the owls,
is where it’s neither too close nor are fully engrossed in some debate.
too far, neither too hot nor too cold,
The dinosaur has taken the chair
and where the oceans will neither
expressing welcome to all. The croc
evaporate nor freeze.
appears to be holding forth vociferously
And why the ‘Goldilocks Zone‘? on some matter of grave concern. The
The metaphor, in long use now, hippo and the elephant stride forward
was borrowed from the fairy tale, seemingly untroubled. The hornbills
‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. add their colour and their calls. The owl
in his philosophical wisdom, suggests
Goldilocks, feeling rather hungry and
checking out the scientific facts.
tired after a long walk, happened upon
a rather odd little cottage—the home And so to the ‘Earth-Time Pole’! All our
of Mother, Father and Baby Bear. She vertebrate friends have gathered in the
heard no one about, so popped in to find last 400 million years or so—the last 5%
three bowls of porridge on a wooden of Earth-Time. They’re very late arrivals
table. That in Father Bear’s bowl was on the scene. And the owl suggests
too hot, that in Mother Bear’s was too checking out the last 1000 years of
JMA, 14 May 2020
JMA, 16 May 2020
cold, that in Baby Bear’s was ‘just Earth-Time; and to take particular note
right’, and she gobbled it up. Now of the two-legged sapiens species that’s
feeling pretty sleepy, she found three strutting about. The croc might well have
beds in the next room. The one felt too reason for concern!
hard, the next too soft, but that of Baby
Bear was ‘just right’, so she tried it and
fell fast asleep. ‘Vertebrate biodiversity’
—17 May 2020 (Post 52)
‘Our grandkid generation’ Before we indulge further in the
—15 May 2020 (Post 50) concerns of the crocodile and the
wise owl (post 51), let’s look at
These past 50 days of lockdown—
the currently known diversity—
through Easter and Earth Day and the
continuously changing with further
deepening Autumn—have been the
research—of the vertebrate classes.
oddest ever. Just us and the birds and
the insects. Still no-one else, other than Global vertebrate biodiversity
Marijke and I, have been through the front The 5 classes are listed in decreasing
door. There’s been no grandkids here order of observed present-day diversity:
searching for Easter eggs, climbing trees, Fish—c29,000 species
or racing their scooters up and down the Birds—c10,000 species
lawn. No frolicking youngsters playing Reptiles—c9,500 species
Amphibians—c6,000 species
ball, or swimming, or mixing potions.
Mammals—c4,350 species
Part of the idea behind our ‘Journey
With a total of around 60,000 species,
through Earth-Time’ has been to
the vertebrates are minuscule in
draw ‘our grandkid generation’ into
diversity compared to the insects
sharing a new view of their world. A
(with some 750,000 known species,
view with special focus on our most
but possibly 10-30 million existing).
exquisite, biodiverse, ever-changing
Earth orbiting the sun in her ‘Goldilocks In the animal world, the smaller in
Compiled, 15 May 2020
Zone’. Her ‘just-right’ zone! size, the greater in diversity! Amongst
JMA, 17 May 2020
the reptiles, the crocs have just 25
These photos of the 6 grandkids filling
species. The dinosaurs, also reptiles,
our lives are copied from ‘Grandpa
reached giant proportions, but died
John’s Amphitheatre Book’ (2019)!
out in the 5th Extinction!‘Heyday of the Angiosperms’ ‘Fern fringe’
—18 May 2020 (Post 53) —20 May 2020 (Post 55)
If we go back to our ‘Plant Time- ‘Fern fringe’ is nestled between
Tree’ (Post 18), we see the heydays ‘Gondwana Alive’ (with the lettered
(the peaks of diversity) of the slabs) and ‘Earth Alive’ (with
three major groups of land-plants the ripple-marked slabs) in our
emphasised.
GA ‘Gondwana Alive-Earth Alive-Africa
Alive’ (GA-EA-AA) triptych garden
From youngest to oldest:
sculpture (Post 21).
Angiosperms (flower-bearing plants)
Today (or perhaps 300 years ago) In this ever-changing ‘fringe’, we
Gymnosperms (cone-bearing plants) currently see an assembly of four
Mid-Triassic (c230 million years ago) species of ferns, a small glimpse
Pteridophytes (spore-bearing plants) indeed of the c10,500 sorts known
Late-Carboniferous (c310 million) globally. And such a richly familiar
part of our world they are—filling out
And here, representing the flowering
the groundcover across pretty well
EA
plants in their heyday, is our Protea
all habitats, aside from the desert.
(Post 15)—happily blooming at the
Walk through the forests, woodlands,
heart of Autumn.
grasslands and wetlands wherever
What a beautiful world! you are, and there they are!
Extant Pteridophytes
The spore-bearing plants.
They include 4 plant divisions:
AA Lycophyta—lycopods (c1,200 species)
JMA, 18 May 2020
JMA, 20 May 2020
Psilophyta—2 genera (c10 spp)
Sphenophyta—horsetails (Equisetum, c15 spp)
Filicophyta—ferns (c10,500 spp)
‘Cycad circuit’ ‘Yellowwood trail’
—19 May 2020 (Post 54) —21 May 2020 (Post 56)
This tight ‘circuit’, another of Pairing with ‘Cycad circuit’ (Post
our 43 perambulatory pathways, 54) is ‘Yellowwood trail’, the second
winds its way around the cycad of our perambulatory trails that’s
(Encephalartos) bush just beyond gymnosperm linked. Here we see
‘Philosophers Ridge’ (Post 35). part of the trail winding its way
through a copse of seven c25 year-old
Some 33 species of Encephalartos
yellowwoods (Podocarpus henkelii).
are found scattered through southern
It’s a favourite stretch of our circuit,
Africa, each in a rather restricted area
especially for the grandkids when
in hilly to mountainous terrain. Most
they’re around.
are tree species, rather palm-like,
whilst 10 have underground stems There are 4 species of Podocarpus
with only the crown spreading above in Southern Africa, all occurring in
the surface. Ours, with the large forested stretches along the eastern
yellowy-green leaves in the photo, is escarpment, from Zimbabwe down to
one of the latter group. the Cape Peninsula.
Pity the majestic colourful cones are Here at the Amphitheatre we have
not sprouting during this time. three species of gymnosperm, the
yellowwoods and the Encephalartos
Extant Gymnosperms
(both indigenous) and a single specimen
Though some 230 million years have
of Ginkgo biloba (native to China).
passed since their mid-Triassic heyday,
the gymnosperms still flourish globally. Global vascular-plant biodiversity
They include 4 classes: Angiosperms—c300,000 species
JMA, 19 May 2020
JMA, 21 May 2020
Pinopsida—pines, yellowwoods et al. Gymnosperms—c1,000 species
Cycadopsida—Encephalartos, Cycas et al. Pteridophytes—c11,700 species
Ginkgoopsida—Ginkgo (the sole genus) #worldinyourbackyard
Gnetopsida—Gnetum, Welwitschia et al. #globalgardenbiodiversitychallenge2020‘Yellow elephants’ ‘Mopane’
—22 May 2020 (Post 57) —24 May 2020 (Post 59)
Cait: ‘Grandpa John, what is your And so to ‘Mopane’, with each
favourite colour’? eroded piece of wood showing its
Gr J: After some thought, ‘Yellow …. very own character—like the heroes
orange …., okay, let’s say it’s yellow’!
in Cervantes’ novels (Post 58). Each
Cait: ‘And what is your favourite animal’?
Gr J: Again after some thought,
is a piece of sculpture in its own right,
‘Elephants, I guess’! fashioned by nature, the sun and the
Cait: ‘And your favourite sport’? rain, out there in the Kruger National
Gr J: ‘If it’s a question of watching sport Park (KNP) and adjacent woodland.
on TV, then cricket’! Mediaeval Gothic-cathedral gargoyles,
Cait: ‘And your favourite place’? sea horses and dolphins come to mind.
Gr J: With no lapse of thought,
‘Westminster Abbey’! Mopane (Colophospermum mopane)
Cait: With a special grin, ‘So then, you is in the legume, bean family. It’s a
have a whole lot of yellow elephants pretty dominant smallish tree, within
playing cricket in Westminster Abbey’! its limited range, out there in the wild.
The wood is dark reddish brown to
This unforgettable exchange goes back
blackish, and particularly hard, heavy
to 31 March 2017. Caitlyn Rose, my
and durable; and, unfortunately, makes
granddaughter from London (then
very fine firewood!
eight) and I were sitting on the rocking
horse in the playground down the road. Back in the 1970s-80s when most
of these pieces were collected, it
And the eles flocked from across Africa
was very sad to see the wood being
to watch the spectacle! Here we see 17
regularly used for campfires and
of them, of every shape and size.
JMA, 24 May 2020
JMA, 22 May 2020
braai-ing (barbecuing) in the KNP.
So why is Westminster Abbey my It has also been extensively used for
favourite place? That’s an intimate mine props and railway sleepers.
blend of the arts and sciences; but
more on that later.
‘The 11th Hour’
‘Don Quixote’ —25 May 2020 (Post 60)
—23 May 2020 (Post 58)
‘Imizila’, the monkey, sits there atop the
Interestingly, two of the greatest figures bookshelf alongside ‘Time’, the clock,
in Western literature—Miguel de with its hands showing one minute
Cervantes (1547-1616) and William before 11 PM—‘The 11th Hour’!
Shakespeare (1564-1616)—died on the With a name like ‘Imizila’—an African
very same day, 23 April 1616. Cervantes word meaning ‘Finding a new way
with his masterpiece ‘Don Quixote’ forward’—our gentle primate friend
(1605-15), is widely recognised as the cannot fathom why he and his kin are
father of the modern novel. excluded from the Democracy!?
Don Quixote, an old knight, and his The books gathered about him are
squire Sancho Panza’, wander through a holistic mix, covering the arts,
the countryside doing the oddest sciences and history. Touching on
things like ‘tilting at windmills’. The these, there’s the sculptor Auguste
gentleman, ‘sad and gaunt’, rides on Rodin and his ‘The Kiss’, there’s
his grand horse, his squire, ‘chubby Charles Darwin and his ‘Origin of
and jovial’ on his humble donkey. Species’, and there’s Nelson Mandela!
The novel is brim-full with every nuance With the Sixth Extinction flaring,
of human character. As the heroes morph set alight not by any great asteroid
from episode to episode, so our sculpture or monstrous volcanic event, but by
has morphed to show a young Don Homo sapiens—the wise one—let us
Quixote riding a donkey meeting up lend an ear to ‘Imi’ and seek that ‘new
with a pair of pink ostriches. way forward’!
JMA, 23 May 2020
JMA, 25 May 2020
A quixotic character: extravagantly ‘The 11th Hour’—at the last possible
idealistic, romantic, a visionary with moment!
lofty ‘unattainable’ ideals. In pursuit
of the seemingly impossible, perhaps.You can also read
