Caring for Our Climate and Our Earth

Caring for Our Climate and Our Earth

This is strange autumn. Mother Nature seems confused. The temperature is bouncing up and down, sometimes zooming into the 90s. Our tulip tree, which usually loses all of its leaves by the end of August, still is partially green. The backyard normally is awash in leaves by now but the maple trees are only reluctantly shedding their foliage. It is October, right?

We do have acorns, though. Lots of them. We can hear them crunch underneath the cars that pass by and under our feet as we take our usual after-dinner walk. There seems to be more than ever dropping from the oak tree in front. At least the squirrels will have some good meals this winter.

If Mother Nature is confused, how are we to understand what is happening around us? We were up in the Alps not long ago and the temperature plus humidity soared to over 105 degrees! It’s hard not to take the concept of climate change seriously when the climate is changing all around us.

Other than observing our own tiny part of the world, how do we know this is happening? NASA helps inform us.

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

Our kids need to know what’s happening, too.

https://climatekids.nasa.gov/climate-change-meaning/

Earth is an incredible place. I hope that we can preserve its beauty and function and remember that we are visitors here. Let’s be good guests and care for our climate and ultimately our planet.

Autumn at Last

Autumn at Last

The trees have been late in losing their leaves around here this season. Some leaves have turned a brilliant orange, some a subdued red, but for the most part the leaves in my neighborhood are still attached to their branches. At least until this week when some suddenly started to float down and coat the sidewalks.

I like Autumn.  I like the colors that brighten up the trees and the crunch of the leaves that have fallen to the ground. The slight nip of the wind in the air energizes my walk. Mostly, though, I feel my energy lift after the lethargy of the hot summer days.

This Fall, though, has been slow in offering up its charms. The summer heat seemed to last longer than usual. After a round of cooler days, we are back to temps in the 70s! I wonder if our winter weather will be different as well. Certainly different from my childhood memories of autumn.

But then so much, these days, has changed. Weather-wise there are more storms, more drought, more floods all across our nation and the world. There is more political animosity, more anger, more active hatred. I try to look at people in a universal way, hoping to see what connects us rather than tears us apart. I look for the joy in life even though I know there are times for grief.

As the leaves finally fall, it is easy to forget their beauty. But they will be back, vibrant as ever, as Spring comes around. I hope that we all remember that as the seasons can change, so can we. Let’s seek the kindness and beauty of life and reach out to share it with those around us.

How are the seasons figured globally?

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/aboutseasons.html

The Trees are Showing Off

The Trees are Showing Off            

Here it comes – Autumn! It’s been Fall officially since September 22nd but it takes a while for Mother Nature to make the transition. Now the trees are showing off. Red and yellow leaves decorate the streets, both on the branches and on the ground. Some people around my neighborhood are already raking though it seems futile at this point; the trees have just begun their annual leaf-release.

I remember walking through the leaves that gathered on the sidewalk when I was growing up. I loved the crunchy sound of the drying maple leaves as I stomped through them. I still do. I make it a point to shuffle my feet in the colorful piles as I take my afternoon walk. Sometimes I kick the leaves into the air and watch as they fall back down; I stop at actually jumping into the raked mounds as I once did. I can’t help smiling, though. I am re-experiencing a pleasant childhood ritual.

As I grew older, I was the one in the family who did the raking. I never minded – even now it isn’t an onerous task. I don’t mind shoveling either, when Fall shifts into Winter and the snow falls. Yes, it’s work, but it is also a moment to reconnect with a younger me.

I know the leaves aren’t falling to amuse me. Trees are responding to the season. Daylight is shorter, temperatures are cooler, the air is dryer. The trees try to conserve their energy by using the nutrients stored in their roots and trunks. Photosynthesis is no longer available. The colors are there all the time but are masked by the chlorophyll during the warmer parts of the year. Now we can see their beauty.

I wonder if we do the same thing, mask our inner beauty, as we pass through our own sense of seasons. Do we succumb to peer pressure in our teen years? Do we hold back our creative spirit in the workplace? Are we reluctant to express our convictions to politicians, clergy, relatives, friends? Perhaps the trees can remind us that we, too, have a dazzling inner core. Our life seasons may be longer but they are just as compelling – if we allow ourselves to see who we really are.

Why do trees shed their leaves?

http://earthsky.org/earth/why-do-trees-shed-their-leaves

Rose Hips and Acadia

Rose Hips and Acadia

I was walking along a path in Acadia National Park at Bar Harbor, Maine, enjoying being out in nature when I heard someone say, “Are those tomatoes?” I looked to where she was pointing and smiled.  

She was referring to the rose hips, which are the seeds of roses. They are red and have a slightly flattened roundness that could be mistaken for hefty cherry tomatoes. They are abundant at this time of the season, ripening as autumn approaches.

Rose hips have a long history of usage, from birds and animals to humans. They are edible, though we humans cannot comfortably digest the seeds; they can be easily removed. They are rich in Vitamin C and other vitamins and antioxidants. Fall is a particularly good time to harvest them as they become sweeter after the first frost. They can be used topically to heal skin problems.

But I didn’t let my focus on rose hips distract me from the splendor of Acadia. It is magnificent. The mountain views and seascapes are meditative. Many people, myself included, sat on the rocks just looking outward. Time seems irrelevant in such a setting. It is a place of renewal, something necessary in today’s frenetic world. If you can’t get to Acadia, take a few minutes in your day just to close your eyes and breathe deeply. It really makes a difference.

This is the official Acadia website but Google other sites as well for some additional great photos:

http://www.nps.gov/acad/naturescience/index.htm

A brief review of rose hips with some recipes:

http://wildfoodsandmedicines.com/rosehips/

Supporting Trees

Supporting Trees

I was out at a local park this weekend, enjoying a walk in the autumn woods. The leaves were brilliantly backlit with the afternoon sun; the variations of red and gold were breathtaking. Some leaves were still green, holding onto their branches as hard as they could, while others had already turned brown and blew off with the slightest breeze.

There was a creek that reflected the shapes and colors of the sunken leaves and with the movement of the water, the scene looked like an impressionist painting. Very inspiring.

Standing on the bridge, overlooking the water, I saw something even more

inspiring. There were two trees at the edge of the creek, holding onto their footing

where the earth slipped into the water. Their balance seemed precarious, as half their

roots were not anchored.

But as I looked up into the high branches, I saw that the trees were leaning

inward, toward each other. One trunk, that of the thinner tree, rested in the crook of the branches of the other tree, and further up, the heavier tree was held in place by the higher branches of the thinner one. I could almost imagine these trees being best friends, reaching out and helping each other when times got tough. And because they were doing so, they both were able to survive.

              

If trees can do that, I would hope that people could, too. Perhaps by

helping someone else we might find that we are being supported as well. As I said, it was

all very inspiring.

If you happen to be near Medford, New Jersey, take a peek at the park;           

http://www.njwildlifetrails.org/PineBarrensTrails/Sites/tabid/1698/Scope/site/Guide/PINEBARREN/Site/272/Default.aspx

The Palisades in Autumn

The Palisades in Autumn

My backyard extended a little further this past week as I traveled up the Palisades parkway along the New Jersey side of the Hudson River on the way to Massachussetts. The trees were dressing the cliffs with fall colors and the roads were crunchy with fallen leaves. It is autumn, at last. The temperatures here are still a tad warmer than is typical but that should be changing soon; I heard that tomorrow will only be in the mid-fifties.

Autumn is usually such a lovely time of year in the northeast. It provides a palette of reds and golds as the trees begin their resting period. It is a gradual transition from the intensity of summer into the extremes of winter. While each season has its typical characteristics, I find the edges between them most interesting. It helps the land and the animals prepare for what is coming. It signals migrating birds to fly.

I think it helps people, too, to anticipate the next phase of the year. We get clues on how to dress, what foods are best to eat, what activities are appropriate to engage in. I’m glad that I live in a four-seasons area even though in the midst of winter I sometimes wonder about a warmer climate. But then I would miss the snow. When the seasons change, it feels like I have finished reading one book and am ready, eager, to start on another. 

Wherever we live, whatever the weather, each season has its holidays, its plant cycles, and its own personality, its individual charisma, all there for us to enjoy.

A look at the Palisades and activities available:

http://www.njpalisades.org/

And a look at the characteristics of the seasons:

http://www.livescience.com/25202-seasons.html

Pumpkin Patch Near Home

Pumpkin Patch Near Home

I was out on a pumpkin hunt with my grandson, seeing how many pumpkins we could find around the neighborhood. They seemed to be everywhere this time of year, bright symbols of autumn and reminders of Halloween. We found pumpkins on porches, on the steps of the local elementary school, peeking out of windows. And then we came upon a pumpkin patch, in front of a house right in the middle of a block!

I mostly think of a pumpkin patch as being in a farm field, certainly not in a housing development. But there it was, in a space more apt to have small clumps of flowers or seasonal plantings of mums than a pumpkin crop, green vines bearing yellow flowers and orange fruit (yes, a pumpkin is a fruit). 

I asked the owners about it. It seems that they had left a pumpkin outside to feed the rabbits that happened by. The seeds that weren’t eaten planted themselves and now were happily growing. That got me thinking about how life has a way of supporting itself. The plot the pumpkins were growing in wasn’t ideal for the length of the vines but they were thriving nonetheless, a symbol of life’s determination to express itself. We live in a tough world yet the seeds of hope survive, even in the most difficult situations.

The pumpkin patch was a joyful surprise for me and added quite a few pumpkins on my grandson’s hunt. 

(The final count: 61).

This site has just about everything to know about pumpkins, from planting to harvesting to eating. Enjoy!

http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/growing.html

What’s a fruit, what’s a vegetable?

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fruit-vegetable-difference/MY02201

Our Tulip Tree as Harbinger?

Our Tulip Tree as Harbinger?

Our Tulip tree is finally shedding its leaves. I say finally because it usually starts the process in August, turning its leaves golden well before the other neighborhood trees begin changing and by the end of the month, its limbs are bare – a hint of Autumn before the season officially changes. So here it is, early October, and the tree is only beginning to lose its foliage. What is going on?

Tulip leaves are sensitive to water. When the weather is dry, the typical condition in August, the tree feels water stress and the leaves tend to lose their viability. But this year, according to the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist at Rutgers University, while we had a rather warm July, we also had the wettest June on record and the second wettest summer so the tree had less stress and stayed leafy.

It was nice to have the tree so green for so long but this was not usual summer weather. Will this be what summer is like from now on? Anything that alters weather shifts what we can expect from the vegetation. With so much information coming out about how the climate is changing worldwide, it may seem like a little thing to be concerned about individual plants. Yet weather conditions affect all things, be it the soil, plants, insects, animals, humans. I know that weather goes in cycles. I also know that we have changed the atmosphere through our activities on earth. Perhaps the Tulip tree is one of the harbingers of change, of what will be the new normal. As my father used to say when I asked a question he couldn’t answer, “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

From The Washington Post Health and Science section:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/metro/urban-jungle/pages/120828.html

Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist at Rutgers University rain statistics:

http://climate.rutgers.edu/stateclim/images/nj_12month_pcp_dep.JPG