Nature, Culture, and Two Friends Talking

Frosted bur oak at McMann Lake, Spring Lake Township, Minnesota (Photo by K. Chapman)

February 11, 2015.  As temperatures plunge once again–though not nearly as often as last winter–the collision of water and subzero air results in beauty of an uncommon type.  South of Missouri and Tennessee hoarfrost is a rare, ephemeral event.  In the northern tier of states these types of scenes happen a few to several times in a winter, and last much longer, sometimes two or three days, if not a week or more when accompanied by a massive Arctic high.  Outside of the upper temperate zones, they don’t happen at all, except on mountaintops.  Of course I have to mention climate change–nowhere in sight in last year’s overly long winter, unless you consider the behavior of the jet stream to be a bit unusual–with polar vortexes and such.  But climate is not weather, as the weather forecasters and climatologists tell us.  Here we have weather, for sure, although climate change is not far behind. – Kim

Pasque flower beneath American plum, Spring Lake Township, Minnesota (Photo by K. Chapman)

February 1, 2015. The pasque flower…first flower to bloom on the prairies and hill slopes of the Midwest, its cup of nectar inviting the earliest of pollinators–tiny, gentle bees and flies–to the year’s first life-giving sip. Before this flower, hard ground, ice, snow, and not much to eat–little to nothing, in fact, for the majority of animals living alongside our great human enterprise. After the pasque flower, incrementally the days grow towards abundance, nourishing the next generation of animals. The word “pasque” comes from pascal, referring to Easter when so much is reborn. Without the pascal feast, life would not exist. Drink up, drink up, you thirsty creatures, after your long sleep! – Kim