I’m feeling a little embarrassed. The last two posts that I have written I’ve talked about improving myself and learning more to provide a better blog experience. Then I look at the calendar and realize that I haven’t done any of it. I’m missing a schedule, have nothing new started and have already fallen into my habits of the past. But I’m still motivated to try to keep chugging along. I’m working on a schedule and plan. Hopefully this will help me stay on task and bring you entertaining information. I decided to look at the calendar to see if there was any inspiration there. I realized that tomorrow is Groundhog’s Day. A friend of mine in high school always said it was her favorite holiday, I wouldn’t go that far but I do look forward to it more and more every year because I always know that there are approximately 6 more weeks until spring when Groundhog’s Day comes around.

Groundhog’s Day

I always find it interesting to learn about the history of something first. I’ve found that I rarely know as much about something as I think I do. It helps me to think about something from a different perspective. So without further ado, Groundhog’s Day is a tradition in which a groundhog is used to predict the weather. Tradition states that if the groundhog can see his shadow there will be 6 more weeks of winter. If the groundhog doesn’t see its shadow that spring will come early. It is believed that Groundhog’s Day may be derived from the German folklore related to Candlemas. It is believed that Groundhog’s Day was first celebrated in 1840 on February 2nd. While there is no scientific correlation that proves that the groundhog can reliably predict the return of spring, it is still celebrated. In the film Groundhog’s Day, Phil is doomed to repeat the same day over and over again until a lesson is learned. In his case it’s his love for Rita. In the case of the world, it seems we have yet to figure out what that lesson is. We continue to have wars and destroy the world we need in order to survive. Each generation, we strive, or at least I would like to believe we do, to leave the next generation with a better future than we had. In previous generations we have tried to make a secure food source, physical safety from the elements, machinery to make our lives easier, ways to trade to receive things that we can’t make ourselves and so on. However, as we learn more and more about how things work and our impact created by those processes we learn more and more that we are actually making things worse for ourselves. We are polluting the minimal fresh water that we have, we are destroying the soil and pollinators needed to provide food; we’re plowing through natural resources at an unsustainable rate. It seems that we will struggle through our own version of Groundhog’s Day until we learn to respect nature and her lessons along with how to find the balance between the technology we have created and our need for natural resources.

Nature’s Lessons

Even though we have come a long way in the technology we use to predict weather and solve problems of limited resources we still use and need nature every day. Nature inherently needs to be prepared for the future. Butterflies and birds don’t have the weather forecast to know when to migrate. Insects and animals don’t know when Groundhog’s Day is and yet they seem to know better than us when spring is coming. Groundhog’s day is just one example of human’s trying to predict the future based off of nature. Some predictions are more accurate than others. Some weather sayings are:

·         Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning

·         Achy joints, rain is coming

·         Ring around the moon, rain real soon

·         April showers bring May flowers

·         Woolly Bear’s stripes predicting winter weather

·         Geese migrating early means a hard winter

As I’m writing all of these I realize that almost all of them pertain to rain or bad weather approaching, which I suppose makes sense. Even with all of our technology today there still isn’t much we can do while it’s raining, without rain or too much rain. While also writing that I realize that a lot of us believe that technology has replaced nature but without nature we could not survive.

Reliance on Nature

 This disconnect between nature and ourselves, or even considering ourselves separate from nature, could be the problem and solution to a lot of our problems. We believe that nature is separate and that technology has replaced our need for nature and the services she supplies us. However, as climate change becomes more and more obvious and destructive we realize that there’s only so much we can do with or without nature and the natural processes. For example, approximately 80% of flowering plants rely on specialized processes and animals for pollination. Of that, approximately 35% of those are agricultural land that we use to feed ourselves. Even if we were able to create and use technology to replace those processes it would probably be too expensive and unsustainable. Another example is water. Many of us take water for granted, after all 71% of the earth’s surface is covered in water. However, the problem with that is 97% of that water is salt water and isn’t safe for many of our needs. Out of all that water only 0.5% of the water is available as fresh water. Again, with all the technology that we currently have we have been unable to figure out a solution to use salt water in an economical and sustainable way. Drought and flooding are still problems that we are unable to effectively resolve. With many of the problems we face, climate change, weather predictions, mental health problems and so on, some of our most basic and effective solutions include using nature and natural processes.

Embracing Nature

It is easy to start feeling overwhelmed and helpless. The world is so large and we can only affect so small a part of it. We can feel lost and powerless to the situation and the solution. Or at least that is how I often feel. So what do we do from here? As with anything daunting we have to take small steps, start with ourselves first. This all started with Groundhog’s Day and spring being 6 weeks away and then I took a bit of a dark turn and suggested we were stuck in our own Groundhog’s Day movie, doomed to repeat the same lessons over and over again until we learn our lesson. Today I argue that our best solution is to embrace nature. Nature has so many lessons to teach us still. If we listen we might begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Being in nature has many benefits to us and potential benefits to nature itself. There are proven benefits to being in nature such as relieving stress, improving memory, better vitamin absorption, weight loss, improved blood pressure, improved mental health and many more. Arguably the more time we spend in nature, the more connected we feel to nature and the more compelled to protect nature we are. The question is what qualifies as connecting with nature? That answer is different for everyone but in general it is recommended that we spend approximately 20 minutes a day or 120 minutes a week outside. We don’t have to go far to be in nature, even if we live in the city. For most of us we can spend time in our own yards. If we don’t have yards we can go to a local park or even plant plants in containers for a small break. You can walk barefoot in the grass; watch the sun set or the sun rise. You can have a picnic lunch or take a hike at the local forest preserve. Try to observe something you wouldn’t normally notice. Is there a new plant species? Did you find evidence of an animal? Did you see a cute little bug enjoying the same flower as you? Since it’s currently winter I feel obligated to include some ideas for winter as well. Can you find animal tracks in the fresh snow? Can you see bird prints around flowers from last season? Are they looking for nesting materials or enjoying a nice seed snack? There are so many ways to enjoy nature, even just enjoying the sun and wind on your face.  Is there a better teacher than experience?

Remember, spring is approximately 6 weeks away, but even now we can embrace nature and all the things she has to offer. I encourage you to go outside and experience some new or familiar today, embrace nature.

As always, stay positive and much love

Additional Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_(film)

https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/22-old-weather-proverbs-that-are-actually-true/

http://www.fao.org/pollination/en/

https://www.usbr.gov/mp/arwec/water-facts-ww-water-sup.html#:~:text=3%25%20of%20the%20earth's%20water,extracted%20at%20an%20affordable%20cost

https://www.usbr.gov/mp/arwec/water-facts-ww-water-sup.html#:~:text=Water%20covers%20about%2071%25%20of%20the%20earth's%20surface.&text=97%25%20of%20the%20earth's%20water,most%20industrial%20uses%20except%20cooling).&text=3%25%20of%20the%20earth's%20water%20is%20fresh

https://www.farmersalmanac.com/20-signs-of-a-hard-winter-479

https://selecthealth.org/blog/2019/07/10-reasons-why-being-in-nature-is-good-for-you