Nature's Call

Season of change

Don't you just love fall?

The aspen pictured in the Nature's Call photo album were just beginning to turn when we drove past them the weekend before last. The brilliant gold of aspen seems to appear first around here, followed by maple's reds, oak's reddish-orange and the yellow-oranges of cottonwood trees.

In modern American culture, fall has become the calm before the storm of "the holidays," for which some stores' shelves already hold decorations. I know the economy is ragged, but I'll never get used to seeing Santa Claus and Christmas trees a month before Halloween.

Besides, when we focus our sights too far ahead we run the risk of missing those wonderful long walks through the woods, under a canopy awash with color. The pungent aroma of dying leaves tickles our noses as those that already have fallen to the ground making that lovely crunching sound with each step we take.

And just how do leaves achieve those fabulous hues? First of all, leaves carry their fall colors with them year-round. During spring and summer, when the tree is in full food-making form, the carotene (yellows and oranges) and anthocyanin (reds) pigments just aren't as prominent as the chlorophyll -- which uses the sun's energy to manufacture food for the tree and also makes the leaves appear green.

Each leaf on a tree has special layer of cells at the base of the stem called the abscission layer. If allowed to develop, this layer of cells blocks the leaf from being able to circulate sugar, water and minerals throughout the tree. So during the growing season, a chemical in the leaf (auxin) prevents the abscission cells from developing.

But in fall, as the sun grows less intense and the temperatures cool, tress produce less auxin. The abscission layer grows, cutting off the leaves from the tree's circulatory system. The chlorophyll dies, and the leaf is left wearing its fall colors until the carotene and anthocyanin also disintegrate.

Interesting to know, of course, but not  necessary in order to enjoy the view. Fall's brilliance fades quickly. Make some time for yourself and your family this week to take in some fall foliage. You could even collect a few leaves and press them between sheets of waxed paper and keep colorful memories of your walk together fresh year-round.

It's nature, not politics

So, it has been two months since I last posted, mainly because I am a computer dork. I'll spare the gory details and instead ask you to have a look at the Mormon fritillary butterfly in the Nature's Call photo section. I snapped it while on a hike in Grand Teton National Park a few weeks ago.

When stumping about in such spectacular settings, it is (thankfully) easy to forget the furor with which much of America views the natural world, these days. Those who work in outdoor education undoubtedly have come in contact with more than one parent or teacher who is suspicious of environmental education's intentions. One parent this year even said that her children got "enough environmental education from Al Gore."

I can totally understand her frustration. It seems that every time something becomes more mainstream, it also becomes highly charged and political. I recall my own childhood, during the latter part, and immediate aftermath of, the Vietnam War, as being an era when it was "in" to focus on peaceful and eco-friendly lifestyles. In true American fashion, it was heavily marketed.

There were smiley buttons and tie-dye everything. We were taught that we lived on a big blue marble and were encouraged to love our Mother Earth. Tree-huggers, eco-freaks, living green -- all of these terms are being ... oh, forgive me -- recycled now that living in a sustainable way is suddenly in vogue again.

And since it is an election year, the push to appreciate nature often is reduced to a congressional bargaining chip or a point of political rhetoric.

Certainly, most adults realize there are very real and weighty environmental issues to tackle, and we must tackle them.

But I can empathize with a parent who wants to shield his or her children from more T-shirt slogans and political rants. I'm pretty sick of them too. When Wal-Mart and Target are selling tote bags and caps with '70s-style eco-power messages on them, it is a sure sign that the nature marketing machine has become an invasive species.

Frankly, such concerns are the reason I became an environmental educator rather than an environmental lobbyist. It's not about forcing people to make whatever I consider to be the right choice. It is about helping them re-connect with nature and giving them some tools to find their own, informed, choices.

It is important that we embrace and adore nature for its own sake and that we seek to understand how it works for the sheer exhilaration of discovery. Now, more than ever, we need nature to be a place where we can find comfort, enchantment and whatever answers we are seeking for ourselves. It should be a place of sharing and calm, rather than ultimatums and bickering.

So turn off the talk radio and political blogs and go for a walk. Spend some time trying to identify that little brown bird that sits on the locally purchased feeder made from recycled plastic hanging in your xeriscaped back yard. The answers we are all seeking are out there. We just have to tune out the noise and tune into nature.