Okay, it’s confession time. I’m directionally challenged, but I’m getting out my maps of the world. Will you be my witness and travel companion? From Georgia to Gallup, Greece to Gibraltar, I’m determined to go to my grave without taking another wrong turn.
Oooh, I just stumbled upon a neat project! i sea change?
photo by Paolo Costa Baldi. License: GFDL/CC-BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
icey change?
It’s called the iSeeChange Almanac, and besides having a lovely website, it’s also a revolutionary undertaking.
Instead of trying to explain it to you, take three short minutes to watch this video:
Imagine the power of collaboration between citizens and scientists …
People like you and me watch the weather roll through our local landscapes, we soak up the sensations of seasons shifting, and we notice subtle changes in the environments we call home.
Photo by Florida Memory via Wikimedia Commons
“People know their own backyards,” Julia Kumari Drapkin, the lead producer of iSeeChange, told Treehugger.
So, who better to speak up and record the odd dry creek, an unusual bird flock, or a grove of suddenly ailing trees?
Photo by Walter Baxter via Wikimedia Commons
If the climate is changing on a grand scale, WE are the ones who recognize the minute clues beneath our noses.
The earth around us is like a second skin.
This is what the iSeeChange Almanac is all about. Unlike its charming predecessor, the long-loved Old Farmer’s Almanac, this evolving collective is meant to be continuously crafted by farmers, birdwatchers, gardeners, hikers, cyclists, ranchers, fishers, and casual observers of nature. It is interactive.
And scientists are paying attention.
“My greatest moment is when NASA sent a climate scientist to a rancher,” Drapkin says.
Something is happening here, and we should all be a part.
Log in, pipe up, and keep the conversation going.
Winnie Nielsen says: I listened to the conversation about the NASA scientist at breakfast with the Colorado rancher and found it very illuminating about how the intersection of science and experience. If one goes on anecdotal experience only, then change is not needed because repeat problems form the explanation. But when science brings forth data, the patterns of change, and the forces the questions of connection to human activity, I believe we have to be open to what is being put forth. If we really say we are the stewards of this earth, then we must look at the possibilities of what we are doing in our current activities and ask ourselves, would it be better if we changed? If change is the answer then don’t we want to seriously look at what we need to do to make things better? Isn’t it scarier to not at least try new things? What if they do make a difference and are the answers? Wouldn’t we just kick ourselves for being stick in the muds and let opportunity for better pass us by because we are stubborn in our own perspective in the face of new information? For me, as scary as change can be, I would rather try well thought out new approaches based on science data. Because, what if I am wrong in my own beliefs and influence others to believe like me and miss out hearing what is important just because it is new and means thinking differently? I don’t want the responsibility that my digging in was part of the bigger movement to dismiss what NASA and others are asking us to consider. We need everyone at the table for solutions so that change has the best possibility of success and preservation of both what we love and what we must have to live.
MaryJane says: Awesome way to start my day. Thank you Winnie. I love knowing you.
Winnie Nielsen says: Thank-you Mary Jane for bringing us so many important ideas and fun to your raisinjane blog. I LOVE starting my day reading raisinjane with hot cup of coffee in hand! Knowing you has forever changed my life in countless wonderful ways!!
MaryJane says: Aw shucks girlfren …
Islands are flooding, people are being evacuated, polar caps are melting….yes, things have changed. We can only look to the one who created all things to put things back to the way it was before man altered the balance in nature. While, we wait for God to reverse the effects of global warming, we can do our part to not make it worse!
A very worthy cause and thanks MaryJane for sharing this . Just signed up to be a weekly poster on their website, and left this week’s observations. Hoping this will help.
Winnie, you post was inspirational! Thanks for your insights. I’m all for any change that can help our poor belegered Earth. We are all in this together and every single positive action towards stewardship does truly matter. That is why I’m saving rare and endangered seeds and trying to get others to grow them. Seeds are alive and need to be kept alive by growing them. This is my small step to help.
Deborah McKissic says: When God created the earth, the bible says he placed man in the garden to “tend and keep it” The first job.. that of gardener…now, this responsibility belongs to all of us..keepers of this earth and everything in it…everything we do has an effect..the trickle down effect…yes, Marsha, I agree..we all need to do our part…thanks, Mary Jane for bringing this sight to our attention….my niece had her home in Colorado severely damaged from a wildfire last summer..four neighbors of hers lost their homes…my brother in law is a protection services ranger and goes out to fight those fires…..I think we all need to be aware of the global warming effects…the storms that set off fires…I remember in the 1970’s when everyone thought people who were worried about all this were too worried…hmm..what are we now?
Winnie Nielsen says: This photo reminds me of that unsettled look of late winter when the weather is on the move again.
Winnie Nielsen says: Love the brilliance of that yellow!
Winnie Nielsen says: These look like cattails that grow here around pond areas. Yours are beautiful all dressed for winter!
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
These icicles are amazing in their formation and shape. The science lab is open everyday this winter with incredible lessons on the tiniest branches.