Spring has come 2-3 weeks early this year to southern Vermont. We are witnessing Climate Change. The seasons are out of rhythm because humans are heating our thin, limited skies.
Today I talked some experienced landscapers and gardeners. Everyone agreed it was 2-3 weeks early. Spring's parade of flowers is also compressed, because all the plants and trees have suddenly blossomed all at once.
It's only April 25th. Traditional “last frost date” is June 1st, five weeks away. What if we get a normal frost? Plants, interrupted.
And the Honeybees aren’t out, so I guess they didn’t get the memo about Global Warming Early Spring. Bees generally stay in the hive until warmer days come. I've seen a few wild Bumblebees dumbledorfing around, but the hardworking Honeybees aren't out in full force yet. This is so incredibly not good. The bees pollinate everybody, and without their flower-visiting tours, no fruit. The Climate Crisis is disturbing mind-bogglingly integrated and complex biological systems.
As Bill McKibben’s new book Eaarth says, we don’t need to argue anymore whether Climate Change is real. We are already living on a changed planet where the atmosphere holds 5% more water than it used to and so the storms are so much bigger.
This spring in Vermont is a tragedy like the Titanic, though quiet and easy to gloss over and return to the socially acceptable cultural trance. I am allowing myself to get upset over it because I think it may catalyze fierce commitment to work and fight for a carbon-neutral planet for the rest of my days. (Starting here with fierce blog posts! Tomorrow, the Revolution.)
Our world, our delicate, impossibly beautiful Pandora is unraveling, coming apart at the seams, sprouting at the wrong time, blooming in the middle of nowhere.
So I say to you and myself, snap out of cultural trance! It's OK to be upset by this.
I'm reminded of a poem that asked....
"What did you do when the seasons started to fail? What did you do, once you knew?”
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