Snow and rumination on acclimatization

 

Got a wet, clingy snow this past week, and it really hung on to the trees and caused drooping and breaking of limbs.

We hiked the trails through our woods, and reveled at the transformed landscape, but had to really tunnel though in spots where the crusted vegetation blocked our way.

Got me to thinking once again about how not just plants and animals have figured out how to get through winter with all its challenges, but what about those hardy souls that walked across the Bering Straight and lived here for thousands of years once the glaciers receded and the land recovered?

We've domesticated ourselves in the last few centuries, and we've gained a lot of knowledge, but lost some as well. As we try to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, and are forced to move from the lifestyles that are really only a very recent thing, what will we relearn? 

I recently read a book that had some accounts by early European impressions of the indigenous folks who got here first. They were seeing the lifestyles of people that had not yet been altered by the brutal imposition of the European replacement. Anyway, the writer was watching some kids playing on an iced over pond, with scant clothing, and having a ball, seemingly unaffected by the cold.

So humans have an ability to acclimatize, maybe more than most of us in coddled modern lifestyles realize. All warm blooded animals strive for homeostasis, and that is one aspect of it.

To give an example, we had an early cold snap here this winter, and so I got a lot of acclimatization done early. Yesterday, a relatively warmer day at 38F/3C, I did some work outside finishing up a shed I had built this fall. After a bit, I had to take off the coat, hat and gloves to feel comfortable. Two months ago, I'd have been chilled to the bone at the same temperature.

We heat the home with wood primarily, but have propane heat backup for the upstairs bedroom. We set that thermostat for 50F/10C and are quite comfortable with a good comforter on the bed. (Admittedly, it seldom gets that cold except on very cold nights, 55F-60F or so is more normal).

As the end of fossil fuels continues and becomes more evident, turning down thermostats, intentionally acclimatizing to the seasons will not just save energy and cost, it will prepare us for the future that is coming.