I’ve spent a lot of time in the mountains, walking through waist-high ferns among pine trees and quaking aspen. I don’t recall ever, even once, looking around and asking myself which organism was the most perfect. The size, shape, age, color, and scars were irrelevant.

The quaking aspen, so-called because of the sound and movement of its leaves in the wind, is the largest and oldest known organism, growing in clones that send up sprouts from their roots. One clone in Utah has 47,000 stems and is estimated to weigh 6,000 tons. A clone in Minnesota is estimated to be 8,000 years old!

Even so, I’ve never compared the quaking aspen to the pine trees or the ferns. I’ve never questioned the value or beauty of one over the other or felt I was less in their presence. I’ve never denigrated the deer for not climbing trees like the squirrel, or the bear for sleeping through winter, or the fish for spending too much time in the water.

Nature is an orchestra made whole by all its parts and varieties. We can learn much from nature if we will just stop comparing ourselves and watch and listen and emulate.