I just spent the last weekend in March deep in the Mark Twain National Forest, nestled on the banks of the upper Courtois Creek. I became depressed as I observed the radically incorrect climate. Year after year I've spent many hours in the deep woods in all seasons and the relentless climate warming has continued to accelerate.
On the first evening, I was amazed to see that the fireflies have come out in droves. I don't recall fireflies before late May - until this year. June beetles are out as well, and as their name suggests they are considerably early. The mosquitoes were swarming in clouds, not like in Missouri but like Canada or Alaska where a swarm of mosquitoes can drain a man in minutes. And the seed ticks are so thick they're immune to DEET.
Two days of foraging for mushrooms and other wild things led nowhere. Not a single morel was to be found. The soil is moist, but the leaf mast is dry as a bone and crunchy underfoot. The daytime temperature was 88F and it barely dropped below 80F during the evenings. Again, March 31 in Missouri. Wrong as a three headed billy-goat.
The only bright spot to my journey was the quality of water in the Courtois Creek. The river is abundant and teeming with crayfish, darters, snails, minnows, and all sorts of fish. An otter surfaced during the day when I was setting up camp. His family continued to show themselves for days as if they graciously allowed me to share their corner of the world. But this will be scant consolation when the atmosphere boils off the surface of the planet and the Courtois goes bone dry.
But at least America had a good run plundering the natural resources, living comfortably at the expense of every other living creature and modifying the environment to suit her greedy children. And now the atmosphere has been ruined.
Just fucking ruined.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
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