The thousand seasons of nature
In tropical forests close to equator, the changes in temperature and sunlight are modest. This is said to cause only two seasons: the rainy season in summer, and the dry season in winter. In northern forests, there are four. Spring, summer, autumn and winter. But even this is a simplification.
These seasons – created by the movement of the Earth around the sun – are only the broadest, most simplified way of categorising nature. We have used this categorisation for thousands of years to predict when to expect rain, when to sow and harvest, and when to migrate. It serves its purpose, but also overlooks the nuances of nature. It overlooks the thousands of smaller seasons.
You’ll only see these other seasons – these subtle changes in nature – if you slow down, observe and listen. If you take the time to get to know your neighbours. Not those in the house across the street, but your four legged, six legged, eight legged, winged, scaled, petaled and sugary neighbours. Through adapting to the seasons created by the Earth, the inhabitants of the forest have made their own unique set of seasons.
In the north, we associate leaves and flowers with spring and summer. This is indeed the terms set by the sun, but within that, each species of tree and flower have made their very own and unique seasons. If you observe a meadow closely throughout the summer, you will see that not one species of flower behaves alike. Every day, the meadow will look different with the arrival of some, and the departure of others. You will only see this, if you spend time with the flowers – if you visit every day. If not, the hundred seasons of the meadow are reduced to two; spring and summer.
Just like the flowers adapt to the seasons of the Earth, the insects adapt to the seasons of the flowers. The insects, in turn, determine the seasons of the swallows, which determine the seasons of the falcons. This is how a thousand seasons of nature is created.
Maybe you do not consider these to be real seasons. You may say that only the sun and the Earth create seasons, and everything else are just passing phenomena. Have you ever considered that our own sun is just a passing phenomenon, amongst the far greater seasons of the endless universe?
You could compare the sun to a dandelion. For 4.6 billion years – and only halfway – the sun has blossomed. In doing so, it has created seasons at Earth. The common dandelion, on the other hand, is modest in comparison. It blossoms only for a few weeks. But during those weeks, she too, brings life and energy to a much smaller Earth – the one of the tiniest of insects. Just like the dandelion will inevitably wither and die, subject to the will of much greater seasons, so will the sun. Like the meadow, the night sky is continuously changing with the departure of some and the emergence of others. It just has a slower rhythm.
Maybe you still think the lifespan of a small insect is insignificant, or the opening of a flower something trivial. Then, let me show you some of the greatest smallest seasons of nature.
In the Atlantic Rainforest, in a single night, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of insects take to their wings, filling the sky with gracious movements. They fly for a few minutes, maybe hours, before they shed their wings and disappear for months, years, or even decades.
Then, there is a tree, which right after sunset, on just one specific night, releases all of its propel shaped seeds in unison. For a few magical moments, green objects are raining down everywhere.
For a couple of weeks, the sugary colours of mangos, pitangas, jaboticaba and acerola will attract the shrieks of parrots and the curious sounds of toucans. And who knows – when they silence – you may be lucky and hear the cry of the seriema, cutting through the air.
The perhaps most beautiful season of them all, the season when the stars descend to Earth. This is the season of the fireflies. Without warning, the forest lights up in warm blinking lights. Then, just as suddenly, darkness returns once more, together with the mystery of when the fireflies will shine again.
Those are a few of the thousand seasons of the forest.
If all of us could see the many seasons of nature, I truly believe it would be impossible to continue exploiting and destroying as we do today. So let us slow down. Let us get to know our smaller neighbours, along with all of their adventures and dramas.
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