"Green" is widely used as a metaphor for "environmentally sound," so we at Crossroads always strive to be "green. " This holiday season, we plan to focus on "greens"—the conifers and other plants that remain green during winter and on other holiday traditions that have, through the millennia, become traditions during the darkest month of the year.
Fall harvest feasts, for example, predate our American food-centric holidays. Back in Medieval Europe, especially in times of famine, peasants would gather for bountiful feasts at the end of November or December, but it was not a time of thanksgiving. During lean times, parents were forced to feed their children or their livestock. Most chose family over their animals.
The Collins Learning Center will be closed on Thursday and Friday to give our staff time with their families, but the trails will be open.
But as soon as Thanksgiving dinner ends, many of us start craving cookies, fudge, candy canes, and popcorn balls. What's the attraction of sweets? Could our cravings be some primitive survival urge?
Early humans must have selected a diet of foods that met their nutritional needs in order to survive and reproduce. Certainly, hunter-gatherers knew nothing of vitamins, carbohydrates, and calories, but they craved sweets and fats, and these cravings caused people to favor fruits (which are high in carbohydrates and vitamins) and nuts (the richest sources of minerals and B-complex vitamins).
So, "The Science of Taste" is the perfect topic for our Saturday Science program between Thanksgiving and December. We hope to see extended families at this activity, but please understand that the activities are geared for elementary students.
And the Greens? Well, it's probably apparent that the destination for our Wednesday Wandering Hike will be the Big Creek Preserve conifer forests. Still, it's less obvious how pines, fir, and spruce became associated with an event a little town in Judea. Our traditions of using greens can be traced to the Winter Solstice.
Primitive people in northern climates did relatively well in the summertime. Food was plentiful, and it was warm. But as fall came, the plants began to die, the temperatures dropped, an,d scariest of all, the days became incrementally shorter.
But a few plants—evergreens, holly, mistletoe—did not die in the fall. Consequently, people believed that these plants had magical power over the darkness. Perhaps, they reasoned, if they brought these magical plants into their huts or caves, they might hasten and ensure the Sun’s return.
Holiday trees have a long and convoluted history, but their popularity has never waned. Evergreens still seem rather magical this time of year. So people want trees in their homes, which actually does have an ecological impact.
Our Current (Ecological) Events group, which meets the first Monday of each month, will discuss issues pertaining to Christmas trees. Participants will review an article about the ecological impact of artificial Christmas trees compared to natural trees. Another article will describe research on the spread of invasive insects due to transporting Christmas trees and holiday decorations. Interested folks can pick up copies of these articles at the Collins Learning Center Entrance Desk. It's OK to read the articles whether or not one intends to attend, and it also is okay to show up without reading them.
Often, our young visitors ask us if a Christmas tree is dead. It is. Any time the top of a tree is separated from the roots, the tree is dead. Curiously, an evergreen will stay green (for a while) if it has a constant water supply.
That doesn't happen in the forest, but something remarkable does. There is life in a dead tree. From fungi and millions of microorganisms to hibernating insects and amphibians, a dead log teems with life. So, during the Environmental Exploration program on December 4th, kids and their adult companions will carefully explore the spruce logs in the plantation near the Learning Center (or indoors if weather is an issue).
Join us at Crossroads during the coming month, and may your season be green.
