Monday, February 20, 2006

Taking a break from blogging...

Hi guys! Sorry I haven't been updating my blog. I have been so busy with the Environmental Biology class I'm taking, I don't really have the time to keep up with it. However, I will return at the end of the semester, in early May. And when I do, I'll have a lot to say about nature and ecology. I'm learning a lot and thinking a lot, and I will be back. So please don't forget me! :-)

I may post a few things between now and then, but only sporadically.

One thing I'd like to say that I learned in my class is this:

If global warming continues as it's expected to, there may not be any more sugar maples in NY State. They need a cold period, apparently. No more maple syrup industry in NY, no more brilliant color in the fall, no more little "helicopter" seed pods fluttering to the ground. No more sticking them to your nose. No more canopy of green leafy maples arching over the streets. I can't imagine that.

I'll be an old woman by then and my son will be 48 years old. We'll be the old farts telling younger people how beautiful the maples used to be in NY, and they'll think it's normal that you have to drive much further north to see them.

Maybe this isn't as drastic as some of the other predicted harm that may come from global warming, but it struck home with me. I am intimately connected with the plants in my little area of the world. The sugar maple is that ubiquitous tree we all love, yet take for granted. How could it leave us? It hits me hard. I feel so sad about that.

UPDATE: Hey, guess what? I just came from an awesome workshop with this old retired veterinarian, Alcott Smith, who is FULL of woodslore and natural history knowledge, and we talked a bit about global warming and I asked him about the maples and he said it's not all the maples that will be affected, just the sugar maples. They need a temp of 34 degrees F to germinate. He said it's prob true that they won't be in this area anymore, but at least we'll still have some other maples, like red maples. Just thought I'd let you know. :-) Love to all of you.