I am reading The Two Islands by Thomas Condon.  It is a narrative of the geological history of Oregon written for the purpose of (in Thomas Condon's words) "increas(ing) the interest of the young."  (Introduction, pg 5).

Thomas Condon is a good story teller.  He was a good scientist and a close observer.  He loved young people and sought to excite their minds with the things that excited his.  From the story line that he presents, and from the evidences that he puts forth, you would think that he was an eye witness to the forces that shaped our Oregon country over many hundreds of thousands of years.  You can't help but believe that all the risings and subductions of the land took place just as he said they did.

Not only is Thomas Condon a close observer and is able to make obvious deductions that the untrained would miss, but he is also a compelling and precise writer.  The following excerpt illustrates this:

"It is to be understood here that in all that is said of (ancient) lake records there is implied a sediment of mud containing casts and impressions of the living things of other ages, of things as real as the writing on Chaldean pottery or hieroglyphics upon a piece of Egyptian papyrus.  The sediments of these lakes are in effect so many openings into the past, openings from which the curtains of time are drawn aside so we see through them the vista of the ages."  (pg. 102).

Thomas Condon taught himself the language of rocks, and was able to read them.

(Continuation):

I wrote the previous line, which then lead me to think that there are many other languages, some of which I've learned.  For instance someone yesterday made reference to the fact that they thought that I was a cow whisperer.  I plead guilty.  I understand cows, and can manipulate them.

Birds have languages.  I have written about what I imagine quail and swallows say to one another.  I understand some of what I hear.

Do flowers have a language?  My wife is a flower whisperer.  She knows which flower to put with another so as to create harmony.  She can coax a single leaf to become a rooted flowering plant.  Her flower gardens are symphonies.

Ivy understands the language of music.  She is so conversant in it that she can read a piece of prose and hear it in song.  She writes the tune that she hears, and it perfectly fits and accentuates the words.

Color is a language all its own.  Eli understands the language of color and of artistic composition.  He can look at an object or a scene, and his mind immediately goes through a process which tells him what colors need to be mixed to produce that particular shade or tint.

Thomas Condon was able to read rocks.  Each of us has other gifts, talents, and interests which enable us to open the whole range of languages which only God Himself entirely understands.