As a boy wandering around the woods above my house, I fixed May 20th in my mind as the date on which I could find a fairy slipper.  A fairy slipper is a pink, exquisitely-formed flower into which you can imagine a fairy's dainty foot being inserted.  Its real name is calypso orchid.  It is a low-growing plant which sends up a 5-inch stem topped by a one-inch-long mottled, pink blossom.  "Exquisite" is the best word to describe its shape and color.  It is unique, and somewhat rare.  It belongs to a genus that contains just this one species.

The calypso orchid is circumpolar in the northern hemisphere, meaning that it can be found in the northern regions of not only the United States and Canada, but also in Scandinavia, Russia, China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan.  It is rare in some of those areas because it is very susceptible to disturbance.  It doesn't tolerate human activity or attempts to transplant or domesticate it.  It favors sheltered areas on conifer forest floors.  It has a dependence upon specific soil fungi, so efforts to transplant it never succeed.

Which is sad, because calypso orchids are close to the top of my short list of exquisite creations.  Finding one is a treat and a joy.  That's why I memorized the calypso orchid's bloom date, so that I could make my rare find on a yearly basis if I so desired.

Another exquisite creation blooms at almost the same time.  It's the glacier lily--Erythronium grandiflorum.  It is a strictly western North American species found from British Columbia and Alberta south to California and New Mexico.  The plant has two narrow leaves up to 8 inches long, and a flower stalk 6-10 inches tall.  At the top of the stalk are one to three brilliant, pure yellow blooms.  The flower and its white stamens point downward, but its five petals turn gracefully upward.  It is found in subalpine mountain settings, and is plentiful in my home woods.  I make it a point to bring a small bouquet of glacier lilies to my wife each spring.

What I didn't know about glacier lilies, until I studied about them, is that "the bulbs are an important and preferred food of grizzly bears."  That's a great thing to know.  If I'm ever lost and starving in the woods, I would assume that what's good for bears would be good for me, too.  That little flower grows from a 1-2 inch bulb.  A few of those would make a meal.

Glacier lilies and calypso orchids are the prettiest and happiest of all our wildflowers.  I look for them each spring.  They signal the arrival of good weather, and of the ability to wander the woods without the need of a coat.

A third exquisite creation is feathers.  I can't pass a feather that some molting bird has lost without stopping to pick it up.  I have jars and boxes stuffed with them.  Feathers are wonders of creation.  The individual feather is composed of the central shaft, or rachis, from which many barbs grow from either side to form the vane.  Each barb becomes a sort of feather within a feather as barbules grow from it.  The barbules have tiny little hooks called barbicels on one side that grab the smooth barbules that lie next to them.  When properly preened, the barbicels all hook up to their nearby barbules and the feather vane is smooth and interlocked.

The shaft of feathers is hollow, making them close to weightless.  Feathers are designed to aid flight, to keep the bird warm, and to give the bird its distinctive coloration.  It fascinates me to study a feather and wonder how in the world the bird or nature knew to make one part of a single feather gray, and another part black; or how they knew to give the feather a distinctive pattern that is consistent from individual to individual.  Of course the bird doesn't know how to do that, but God does.  A feather is such a complex thing that it is a testament to the all-knowing wisdom and creativity of God.  A feather is my third exquisite creation.

A fourth would be an ice crystal.  It is said that no two snow flakes are the same.  It's a thrill to wear a dark coat out into gently falling snow, and to study the beautiful intricacies of the flakes that fall on your arms.  And the patterns that frost can make on a window pane can be truly breathtaking.  One must always call one's family members to come see.

There are lots of other exquisite creations that I could discuss.  The sea shells that I collected in Vanuatu fascinate and amaze me.  The thousands of species and colors of birds are likewise fascinating.  Their ability to fly is astounding.

The dozens or hundreds of kinds of fruits in the world are astonishing, as well.  I suppose that oranges and strawberries and peaches are big and luscious for the purpose of getting animals to help disperse their seeds, but I have to believe that the real purpose in their size and flavors is to feed and to please God's children.  He created men, and He created the means to feed, clothe, and shelter them.

But perhaps the most exquisite creation of all is the human body.  I'm awfully fond of  mine.  To think that I will have the privilege of having and using it through all eternity is the most amazing thought of all.

I am grateful for God and His exquisite creations, great and small.  I am grateful to know that I am one of them, and I'm grateful that I have the ability to appreciate the rest.