By Scott Shephard

When I think of the "Book of Genesis" in the Old Testament, I don't think of God willing coconut trees to grow out of volcanic rock on a place like the Big Island of Hawaii. But why not?

There is certainly something elemental about a fledgling tree growing out of some of Earth's newest land - in this case near (or over) what was once the community of Kalapana. The black volcanic rock looks impossibly barren and hard but it is neither - it is brittle and rich in nutrients. Soon, there will be rich soil here and maybe even earth worms. But the word "soon" has a different meaning here and can't easily be understood in human years.

Come back in a few thousand years and you won't know the place. I'm thinking God's watch doesn't measure days or minutes or seconds. Probably not not months or years, either. . . .

Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/6.7 ISO100 47mm