Earthlings Letter #12 – Diversity

Jeff & Susan • March 16, 2018

In this letter I want to talk about diversity, a word which means “a range or variety of different things”. And I think this will be the final letter in this series of Earthling Letters. There will be more letters in the future and you can be sure that they will all be about nature and being curious!

I want to end this series of letters with the topic of diversity because I feel it is central to everything that I have tried to say in previous letters. Diversity causes change and change never stops. Change is a way of life, and has an important purpose; helping life survive. If we try to find a constant in nature it would be the changes made by the interactions created by diverse things. But, how can change be constant? Doesn’t constant mean that things remain unchanged? Sometimes a thing can be constant or true, even though it keeps changing. The movement of the second hand of a clock keeps telling us time, which we accept as true time, moment to moment into the future. Our Earth is in constant motion orbiting the sun and rotating on its axis, changing day and night, cold and heat, as it goes.

A drawing of a globe with the letter n on it

We don’t feel this motion because we are being carried at the same speed as the Earth moves, but we experience the climate changes and light changes it creates with its movement. Change can be in motion and still tell something true and constant about life. Nature is constant and changing all around us. Life is a moving thing!

When life is diversifying and causing change this creates evolution, “to develop slowly to a more advanced state”, from the French word evolvere “to unroll”. It is doing what makes the survival of life possible. Nature uses diversity to evolve life forms, not towards a goal or finish line, but toward survival and equilibrium, “a state of balance”. But even balance is subject to change. You experience this when you are shifting your weight to stay on a skateboard and keep moving forward.

A drawing of a person riding a red skateboard

Evolution can be thought of as an extremely slow process of choosing within an infinity of diverse choices. The changes that diverse life interactions create make it possible for living things to balance or create equilibrium with each other… enough for each, for a moment, then more movement and evolution toward another moment of balance. Diversity helps life in many forms to live into the future and to continue the process of evolution.

When you stop to look around it is easy to see diversity everywhere. So many different trees, flowers, leaves, birds, people, insects, dogs and cats, on and on… Nature loves diversity, and life is constantly changing into different forms or slight modifications on old forms that adapt to new conditions. Yes, the conditions in which we are living, change too! Even the earth under our feet is moving very slowly. The plates that carry the continents are moving and bumping into each other beneath your feet! This results in new geology, “science that deals with Earth physical structure”. ( A subject for the next series of Earthling Letters!) This kind of change usually takes millions of years to effect life forms in any significant way. But fast change in the environment can happen too; like a hurricane. Then trees are torn from their places and some areas are scrapped clean of vegetation and animals. After the storm new plants, animals and insects have an opportunity to take over the stripped areas. They adapt in different ways than the old residents and sometimes become dominant.

A child 's drawing of a crocodile on a white background.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that YOU are influencing evolution with your own life. The fact that you are living and doing things that you do everyday, is influencing evolution. You are alive and just your living is enough to change things you come in contact with. For instance, when you find something you are interested in, maybe you want to make a kite.

A drawing of a kite with the letter a on it

You start moving around gathering the things you will need, sticks, paper, string etc. You are generating movement and as you get more excited and involved in the project, movement becomes momentum, “the strength or force that something has when it is moving”. Momentum brings you in contact with a diversity of things, some familiar and some new, some related to your project and some unrelated. You are asking questions and making decisions with each move you make, will this work ? can I use this? who can I ask about this? More ideas come to your mind as you interact and collaborate with other people. Your activity creates activity in the things and people you contact and this is how your life changes life around you and creates its own small tornado of change. We already know how powerful change can be! Change changes change while it is seeking balance. We are all trying to stay on the skateboards!

OK, diversity is important for evolution but how does it help life survive? CHOICES. What if a dragon was chasing you and there was only one road you could run down to get away. Chances are good that you are not going to be able to run faster than a dragon can fly.

A child 's drawing of a bird with blue wings

What if you had many roads to run down and they are all twisty and turny so you can dodge about till you come to a tunnel you can pop down before the dragon sees you and be very quiet, etc. The more options there are for avoiding the dragon the better your chances are to survive. When choice is limited, animals, plants, and people become more vulnerable. Yes, plants make choices too! Their movement is much slower and dependent on birds and wind and other things, to move their seeds around, but they are choosing in their own ways. A seed won’t grow where it doesn’t find the right conditions, enough water, warmth… A grown tree will die if conditions change around it so that there is not enough rain or sunlight. These are not the only things that plants need.

There are many things about the needs of plants that we still do not understand. And that is why you are here! You are living and thinking and you will contribute something that only comes from you to the understanding of each thing you do, people or animals or plants you interact with. You are a unique, “unlike anyone else”, person among a diversity of billions of people and other life forms. Your life tornado will meet and interact with countless other tornadoes during your lifetime. Welcome to the challenges and changes of diversity!

A child 's drawing of stick figures in a spiral

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Indonesia, Bali, part one, Water

April 28, 2026

Like an exotic jewel set in the archipelago of Indonesia, Bali glitters and enchants. The Balinese have retained their unique community through intense social/religious bonds, hard work, exceptional talent and great sacrifice through the centuries to become a beautiful, gentle and inspirational community. Now, because of these unique qualities and accomplishments, finally and fatally they have become a primary tourist attraction that presently dominates 80% of their economy. The irony is that this may be the thing that destroys an incredible place and its people that hundreds of years of oppression and wars did not. If they don't soon diversify and return to the trusted systems that meant survival for their society over more than a thousand years Bali will no longer be a wonder of the World. Their unique form of Hinduism understood the root of survival when their irrigation system, subak, was first built. It was defined as a religious object to be venerated and protected with prayer, with temples and maintained by priests. Rooted in the Balinese philosophy, Tri Hita Karana, the principle of achieving harmony between humans, nature and the divine. It was the source of the staple food, rice. Water came from lake Batur, in the crater of the extinct volcano Kintamani, irrigated the hand cleared and formed terraces of rice paddies that descend in beauty and function to the sea. Seedlings hand planted by the women, sheaves of rice attached to the ends of poles carried across the shoulders of the men to the storage huts simple activities, carried out over more than one thousand years, that meant survival for a society. And the ancient kings of Bali also came together to sanction the subak. Agreement between religion and state. A rare thing in history and in the present. So what is happening now? How is tourism threatening the survival of the Bali we have come to know and admire? Aren't people coming to praise and enjoy? Isn't that a good thing? It is not the intentions of the visitors, it is the structures built around tourism that make tourism possible, they have become destructive. Why are they destructive? The answer is water. Because of the demands of hotels and resorts for fresh water, the water table has dropped by around 60%. Into the void presses the salt water of the sea. Not only is the amount of fresh water that feeds the subak compromised it is threatened by salination and made unusable for rice growing. This situation is sometimes referred to as being caught between a rock and a hard place. The government needs to step in and limit or freeze new construction of resorts till a sustainable balance is found. Also, water use needs to be prioritized and rationed for essential use, the subak system as a primary user. Finally, the income from tourism must be distributed back to the Balinese people for their dignified survival and flourishing. The dependency on tourism has created an imbalance. Men can be seen sleeping rough in the parks. There is desperation in the eyes of the women who sell clothing and souvenirs in the outside stalls. The main profession encouraged for children is hospitality work. The majority of profit from tourism needs to be returned to the people. They have earned it, they have built what we admire, they have carried in their hands and hearts the unique social compromise that has survived to this day against impossible odds and now it is being challenged by economic forces, more subtle but no less aggressive and destructive than war. Susan Caumont

Fremantle; searching for authenticity and fuel

April 17, 2026

Sea days pass differently than land days. At sea the ocean and the ship's passengers are the changing features. Land life has extra distractions, vehicles, shops, museums, temples, churches, gardens, bird song, dogs barking, taxi drivers, venders, airplanes, the full extent of human activity. During sea days I prefer to observe the ocean. I am aware of the passengers; like being part of an extended family or small village where you know most of the people a little and a few well. But the opportunity to be on the water for long periods is special. Sometimes, when the ocean is calm, a criss-crossing pattern may be seen on the surface, a delicate weave of vibration. I wonder if marine life is creating it, communicating. Other times the water heaves and agitates like an angry crowd is running here and there under a silk sheet. We sail six days from Adelaide to Fremantle, for the most part we encounter easy swells on this trip. The ocean lets us pass with tranquil, breathing heaves up and down. When we arrive there is an art festival in progress downtown. Crowds of people have traveled by train from the suburbs. We walk in. Some streets are blocked, making way for displays of crafts, performers, food venders and pedestrians. People are all around, eating, talking, buying stuff and watching the performers. Clowns, singers and acrobats compete for attention and overhead huge soap bubbles float, generated by the children nearby. It is a perfect day and everyone is out to have a good time.

Tasmania, Hobart

April 7, 2026

Our stop in Melbourne was only for a day. There are plans to return after we visit Tasmania, which is just south of Melbourne. When you look at a map you can see where the island broke from Australia, a ragged triangle torn from the continent. England brought their convicts here to establish a penal colony in 1803, (convict transport ended in 1851, 50 years later) the colony eventually became Hobart, the capital city. Convicts were brought by sail. All the way from England around the southernmost tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas. A cape historically known to clipper ship sailors as a significant hazard, notorious for mammoth rogue waves of up to 30 meters (100 feet). What could these unlucky people have done to be banished on such a dangerous trip and so far away to an “uncivilized” island? Turns out prostitution and unwed pregnancy was enough to get sent there if you were a woman. And being an orphan, if you were a child.

Australia

March 25, 2026

The yellow pilot boat is approaching. A pilot will be brought onboard to guide our ship through the harbor. As we progress, a stretch of islands pass us on the left then, the coastline, on both sides. Sailboats, white triangles against the dark blue water, shine in the distance. Cliffs drop sheer from the pastureland to the tan beaches. Dark green groves fill the crevasses. We cruise along under the dome of the sky. Soon we will be docked at Port Melbourne, Hobson's Bay, Australia. Living life onboard, traveling around the world, I feel like a spirit watching the living as they go about their activities. I am a temporary exhalation, undetected then gone. But their doings remain in my mind. Humans are so very busy, especially the young adults. It takes significant aging to bring on stillness and reflection. My obscurity can make me sentimental. I feel a general affection for anyone who passes. I saw a baby watching sea gulls eat the French fries that someone had tossed to them. I imagined her forming her own impressions of everything around and not yet named. I wished her well and hoped that the war would end soon.

Sydney Australia to New Zealand

March 12, 2026

The most important thing we have to do, now that we have re boarded our ship in downtown Sydney, is to increase the number of pages in our passports. Most countries will stamp a whole page and sometimes two. Our passports, though new, only had twenty eight pages. This will not be enough to get us around the world! So we made an appointment with the US Embassy, along with 50 other passengers, to address this issue by purchasing larger passport books which have 52 pages. The Embassy was new and modern, the employees good natured and efficient, considering that we descended on them all at once. We conducted our business in an orderly manner under the watchful eyes of the US President, Vice President and Secretary of State, whose framed photographs dominated the far wall.

Hospital, Sydney, Australia

February 23, 2026

After all our planning for Jeff's next operation and waiting out the days till we arrived in Cairns, Australia, we finally flew to the Sydney airport. It was evening when we got there and both of us were exhausted. We both thought why call an Uber, there are a bunch of taxis hanging around, just take one of them to the motel. That was a mistake. We ended up paying $100 for a 20 minute trip in no traffic. Uber would have been half, I found out later. Since then we have taken several Uber rides in electric cars. And they have been excellent experiences. Australia has been importing Chinese made electric cars. We got to ride in a BYD and Uber drivers like to talk. We conversed with a Japanese driver and an Indian driver, both men. Both had been in Australia about 15 years. They seemed to like being in the big city. Both agreed it is generally too expensive. The driver from Japan, his wife works in the hospital and they have children, he likes the flexibility of the job so he can be involved with school and activities. The Indian driver has a son and would like to return to India so his son can experience his homeland. We are resting at our motel and I am outside watching the wild cockatiels.

Sea days

February 11, 2026

We have several sea days before we arrive again in Cairns, Australia. This means we will not see land for a while. The rhythm of sea days is very different from shore days. There are a variety of activities you can participate in. Almost anything you can imagine is being invented as a result of the variety of people onboard, some of whom want to duplicate the entertainments they enjoyed where they used to live. This is a residential cruise ship so a lot of the passengers are onboard long-term, meaning many months or years or the rest of their lives. The longest stay, if you “buy” your cabin, is 15 years. When Jeff and I bought our cabin that was all that was offered. Now you can buy a cabin for 5 years. Each circumnavigation takes about three and one half years. We are going to try to stay onboard for at least one circumnavigation. Before the sea days began, we visited two of the islands of Tonga. At the first stop, people scuba dived over a reef right next to our ship

French Polynesia, the islands

January 27, 2026

The float of cloud drifts and encircles a mountain leaving just the very top, a pointed witches cap poking through. These islands have the most magnificent mountains. They brood around the harbors, snagging the clouds that pass. No doubt they have inspired fantastic stories. The cloud shadows create chameleon-like changes on mountain surfaces, making them even more expressive than oceans that amuse themselves by hiding what they contain; mountains are hysterical by contrast. Always looking for attention. “Look. Look again!, what about this?” They may hold a pose for a while seeming docile, then you look up and they have disappeared. White mist covers just a grey suggestion, then suddenly black silhouettes like broken giant teeth rise defiantly. So much animation, millions of years after volcanic upheavals shook these mountains from the sea depths.

Notes from Fiji hospital, Oceana Hospital system and Denareau private hospital

January 13, 2026

Medical emergencies all have a similar feeling. Intensity, urgency, a changed perception of time; only events and human encounters progress, time seems warped, unimportant. After several sleepless nights because Jeff was having difficulty peeing and he was beginning to have pain, he went to the onboard clinic to get catheterized. There were three attempts with successively larger catheters. This was painful and distressing for him, though he kept joking about it, “this is not good sex!” The attempts were unsuccessful. He was given pain killers and an ambulance met us at the dock for a 10 minute ambulance ride to the hospital. Jeff is an 80 year old man with an enlarged prostate so he normally has trouble peeing. But this time it stopped altogether and there was blood. We are waiting at the hospital for the urologist. Nurses and a general practitioner have spoken to us in English. Very kind, polite, casual and patient. The urologist arrives and talks with Jeff. He is going to get the operating room ready and put Jeff out. Then he can do the operation. We wait in our curtained off cubicle Jeff is lying on a bed. A woman who came with her husband, who has high blood pressure, is behind the curtain to the left of us. He had collapsed. She is reciting the Lord's Prayer and Hail Marys over and over in an emotional whisper. She is crying. A young man is in the cubicle to our right. He seems to have broken his arm. It is all wrapped up in white gauze. Earlier a man had been stung by something and ointment was applied. A pregnant woman has come in. This is a modest hospital, very basic, two floors. They have what they need. A few flies buzz lazily around, but most are killed by the electric device on the wall. A very slight smell of urine is in the air. We arrived here about 8:30. It is now 2:00. Jeff has had an ultrasound, blood pressure checks and an EKG. Now he is in a wheelchair waiting for the nurse to take him to an operating room. The waiting room has about 10 people waiting. About 50 chairs in all. Not terribly busy for a Saturday. Light and darker coffee colored skin, attractive, rounded features and large expressive eyes set apart the native population. They are only a little curious about us. There is no rushing here.

Ch 17, South Pacific Countries, islands

December 29, 2025

Papua, New Guinea.