For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
(Isaiah 45:18)

“Casey at the Bat” is one of America’s best-known poems. Surprisingly, even operas have dramatized the story of Mudville Nine’s baseball slugger. In Ernest Thayer’s 1888 poem, a smugly overconfident Casey was ready to wallop a game-winning home run, only to dash the hopes of Mudville by totally whiffing the ball with a massive—and embarrassing—swing-and-a-miss.

Despite their size, earthworms are surprisingly helpful creatures. They occasionally venture above ground in broad daylight but are mostly night crawlers. They are best known for their underground habits, such as recycling organic waste, aerating soil, and helping organic matter to decompose.