The Wonder of the Many Little Things

edited by Amie Adams

Bernt Olaf Wolden (1886-1968) was a naturalist, botanist, and birder known as “The Observer.” Amie Adams recently compiled his works.

Photo by Zdenek Machacek, Unsplash

September 27, 1961

If we have once become aware of the wonder of little things in nature, we never get done learning about them, looking at them and for them. Learning about them does not mean acquiring a scientific knowledge of them, or how to classify them scientifically, but to take the time first to notice them, then to observe their beauty and to see the unusual and strange things about them. There are folks who make but little progress when they walk through a wood because at every few steps they see something to wonder about. And in our vicinity there is much to see even though we do not have mountains, waterfalls, or seashore. Not only the state park, but the large woods across the river from our city and other natural woods in the area are replete with the small wonders of nature.

On the ground or on logs and stumps are many curious forms of plant life to be seen at every season, except when the snow lies deep. There are lichen forms on every tree trunk—shades of yellow, green, olive, or gray. On the soil in upland woods may be cup lichens like tiny fairy cups, large hair-cap moss, and beautiful beds of smaller mosses, raising their marvelous spore-bearing parts. There are brightly colored fungi of many sizes and shapes, among which are the orange scarlet Peziza and the earth stars which do not seem to belong on the ground. Most folks know about the wild flowers, appearing almost after the melting of the last snow and continuing often till the earliest snow fall, both in woods on our scant prairie remnants, but there are those who seldom take time to notice them.

The wonders of the insect world are unlimited. We see oddly-shaped, wonderfully-colored, or strangely-marked insects—bugs to most people, and many of them are bugs, but some are better called by other names. In the quiet pools are strange forms like skating water striders and around such places flit strangely-colored damsel flies and numerous kinds of other insects. During the past summer it has been interesting to learn how many people occasionally see the large and colorful night-flying moths, as several specimens have been brought to us during the summer. The statement is sometimes made that they have never seen anything like it before, and it is true that we do not see too many of some of these gorgeous moths in a lifetime.

Photo by Diane Theresa Hendrick on Unsplash

The numerous tiny birds are also objects of wonder when we watch their many ways. Each summer we see the smallest of the birds, the hummingbird, and marvel at its mode of flight as it darts from flower to flower, sometimes hovering like a helicopter, remaining stationary in the air again and again, and as if reversing its motor, darts backwards.

Another memorable sight is what Burroughs called the spring reunions, or the mating festivals of the goldfinch. This is when in May or early June numbers of these birds gather at one spot, or on the ground and in bushes and trees above, singing their melodic song as they continually flit about. This may be along a river bank or right on a street in town, as we saw it on our street in May forenoon some years ago. These are but a few of the little wonders in nature, but such could fill a book. 

Photo by Mark Olsen on Unsplash

Amie Adams

Amie Adams is an essayist writing at the intersection of narrative nonfiction and place studies. She earned an MFA at Washington State University and is certified as an Iowa Master Naturalist. In addition to compiling some of the writings of Bernt Olaf Wolden into The Observer, her essays have been published in Midwest Review, Rootstalk, and Pensive, among others. 

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