The weather’s rubbish! Today is the first day of spring, but
there’s no sign of even a daffodil. For tonight the Weather Oracle predicts a
frost of -10 Celsius! More snow is on the way --- no sign of spring for at least
another two weeks. Do you hear me whining? Actually, the Earth has nothing personal against
Scotland or the
UK . This
Narnian winter (always winter and never Christmas) extends from Russia
through Poland ,
Germany , France ,
to all of Scandinavia . Put plainly, the seasonal changes
are on hold. We’re stuck in winter. Given that the earth needs a month to warm
up before anything planted in it will grow, things do not bode well for our growing season. At least for our vegetables and flowers. As for the bee colony? We're worried.
Why is this happening? The Weather Oracle, rational as always,
points to the Jet Stream, located near the Spanish border. He mutters something
about a “blocking high” over Scandinavia that prevents our seasonal weather from the West from coming in. It’s
not much of an explanation. Far more likely is the hypothesis that our Earth is not
well. As with any sick patient the Earth has a case of the shivers. She needs to lie low
until she feels better. But meanwhile, she has withdrawn her energies, so nothing
is growing. Why is the Earth sick? What’s the nature of the disease? Don’t get
me started on global warming, our impact on the planet.
However this is the time for planting trees, even if the
land is covered by six inches of snow. Last fall I prepared planting sites for
about 400 trees in our field. I scythed the long grass and piled it high on a
clump, marked the spot with a cane. Upon kicking the snow away from a stake I
found the grass pile, half rotten, the ground soft and rich under it. And so I sunk
a shovel into the ground, opened a slot. In went the bare-root tree. I closed
the hole with my foot.
For whatever reason, I found the tree planting quite exhilarating,
even in driving snow. I planted an oak grove behind our hillock; lime trees
went in over by the labyrinth. A grove of hazel bushes surrounds the spot for a
future building. The willows all went in at the foot of the field where one day
they’ll form a thicket. Pine trees, Rowan and Birch were interspersed in the
upper half of the field. Maple and crab apple? Looking around I saw a clump of
canes that in my mind transformed into a new maple grove.
Planting the trees went so easily --- and yet it was a momentous occasion. One day a new forest will transform the land. Maybe we’ll be gone by the time the saplings grow into
stately giants.
“When did you plant them?” Grand-kids may ask.
“Well, there was this Narnian winter --- the snow kept
falling and we thought it would never end. So I got out into the blizzard,
shoved the snow away from the stakes and in went the trees.”
Unlike us trees aren’t bothered by a long winter here, or a
missing summer there. They tend to adapt and grow, making the best of our
changing climate. They have a different, slower schedule than ours.
Now – I have to make sure that Bambi stays away from them.
