12. Natural patterns

When one spends a lot of time in the natural
world, "in the field", as scientists say, one cannot
ignore the natural patterns all around us. We are often amazed at what architects can do, and images of traffic clover leafs, seen from the air, are very impressive. But nothing beats Mother Nature. What follows are just a few examples of the natural patters we see in nature.









On a small island north of Captiva, in south east Florida, I came across this amazing tree. What appears to be several trees, is in fact, a single tree.











Nature's version of a multiple storied apartment building. Mushrooms growing on the side of a dead tree in northern Wisconsin.

















What looks like a deep hole in the earth is a close up view of the inside of an opened geode from Iowa, showing botyroidal quartz lining the inside of the geode.














Pretty asters forming a pentagon. Did you ever wonder where the general shape of a house came from?














Mangrove swamps in southeast Florida. What appears as chaos is definite order.
















Real symmetry, as exhibited by the seeds of a dandelion. Several minutes later, a gust of wind transported these seeds to my neighbors lawn.












The veins of a colorful, tropical plant. Again, real symmetry in action!















A pattern seen often in the northern parts of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Northern white cedar roots and trees along the shores of shallow lakes.













The rows of flowers on stems of bleeding hearts are always breathtaking in nature.












The tangled web of branches in a dead tree. Order, even after life.















Even the fallen leaves of sugar maples in the northern woods invariably present a familar pattern.











Another view of a geode, this one from Indiana showing the quartz crytsals lined within the hollow center of the geode.














More tropical plants of southwestern Florida. This pattern is quite common but striking as anything you might see.











When you look at flowers very closely, as I have done here, the natural patterns literally come flying out at you.













Natural patterns, like man-made patterns, sometime get unravelled, as evidenced by the petals of this daisy.














The patterns here are the result of shadows through the dead grass coming thru the ice on a northern Wisconsin lake. Everywhere you look, the pattern is different.











Another look at patterns in the geological world. Another mineral specimen, again quartz crystals.















The regula patterns in skate egg casings has always fascinated me.












Another striking example of patterns in nature, along with brilliant color.













The base of a banyan tree, showing the patterns formed by its extensive root system.













And finally, looking towards the heaven through a forest of red pines in northern Wisconsin. My heaven on earth!