Notes from my knapsack 1-16-20

Notes from my knapsack 1-16-20

Jeff Gill

 

Waiting, not impatiently, for winter

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This winter there seems to be a majority in favor of this warmer weather we've been having.

 

Facts and opinions about climate change aside, I haven't run into very many people in the last few weeks who are complaining about not being cold, or even the lack of snow and ice.

 

Granted, I don't know any ski area operators or cross country ski rental managers. Anyone in those categories in Ohio is probably discontented. Otherwise, I'd say a clear majority wants more of the same, only with a little more sun.

 

I don't get out in the woods and on trails as much as I'd like, but probably more than most. And yes, I can assure you that it's soft and mucky out there off the paved pathways. Even if you have no intention of checking this out for yourself, it's worth telling everyone that it's squishy like spring time already out in nature.

 

There's an old saying that if you don't have any spring in your winter, you'll have winter in your spring. So a warm stretch is almost mandatory (if that's scientifically valid, which I can't support). If this year's winter is any indication, though, we've had so much spring in our winter then there shouldn't be any winter in our spring, right?

 

The popular assumption in fact is that "we're gonna pay for this in March." Or April, I like to add helpfully. It does seem likely. And Ohio is known for our "surprise!" snowfalls right up to Easter (which is April 12 this year, for what it's worth). What we're almost certainly not going to get this year, though, is a good hard freeze down deep into the soil. As the sun starts to climb higher in the sky with the accompanying longer days, the angle of the sunlight means deeper penetration of that solar warmth, plus the duration of that radiant energy.

 

Believe it or not, a little bit of longer freeze can be good for the soil and the ecosystem. Less of it means changes to the environment, from earlier germination of certain plants to shifts in migration patterns and also developments below the surface.

 

I remember learning in a college biology class that a teaspoon of topsoil has in it more micro-organisms than there are people on the planet. Of course, that was a long time ago, and there are more people, but I think it's still true. Fungi and bacteria and nematodes and tardigrades abound (if you don't know what a tardigrade is, you should go online and look them up, cool tiny creatures), and their life cycle along with the roots of plants and shrubs and trees are used to a certain pattern of dormancy and reactivation. We're learning even now about what changing that pattern does, leading to the end of some life forms in this area and an overgrowth of others. Have you noticed how much more often you have to clean the north side of your house, and that black fungus getting more and more common earlier in the summer?

 

A hard freeze can also protect the deeper soil and the warmth locked up in it, so paradoxically, a mild winter can make it colder deeper. Anyhow, it's all about trade-offs, and I suspect most of us are on board for a warmer winter. Just be aware of the fact that, like every pleasure, it comes with a price to be paid sooner or later.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he generally likes cold weather but admits to having his own layer of insulation to allow for that. Tell him what climate you prefer at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.