The Soil on the Earth

In the picture we see (the results of) microorganisms munching away at a leaf. They are transforming the leaf and themselves into soil. Their ancestors were doing this at the very beginning of life some 800 million years ago when the first cell evolved to maturity. At that time there was nothing upon the face of our planet but water, ice, rock and sand. There was no soil and consequently no plants or animals either. But there were microorganisms that could break down any vegetive life that happened to wash ashore. These microorganisms at our feet have been at work for nearly 800 million years to produce all the soil that exists on the earth today. They, if anyone, could wear the title Earthlings. You don’t have to thank them. They’re having the time of their life. No one is preventing you from feeling gratitude.

“If a microorganism serves the process of life,
and a human destroys the conditions of life,
who should life serve and who should she destroy?”
Dartwill Aquila