At this point in our summer the Sun’s energy has caused an abundance of wealth, not the kind you can spend at the store, rather one measured in tree growth, vegetation, leaves, seeds, fruits, insects, birds, animals—in short: LIFE!
This morning I watched a dozen small sparrows hop around the deck, clearly finding both seeds and insects enough to keep them fed. And Goldfinches feasting on the ripening seed of Cosmos.
Last night, there was the annual explosion of flying ants in Central Vermont, literally millions of them. I was downtown and, honestly, enjoyed watching all the people who were annoyed by having to brush away “the bugs’ that were flying around. Meanwhile fish, dragonflies and birds, especially Nighthawks, were feasting. The Westminster (VT) Station Nighthawk Count spotted 1,376 bringing the season total to 23,802, and the season is not over.
My friend and brilliant naturalist, Mary Holland, writes this morning: “Black Bears begin foraging for berries, nuts, apples, etc. most of the day and night (up to 20 hours out of 24), putting on two to three pounds a day. This annual feeding frenzy is called hyperphagia. By hibernation time many bears will have added about 4 inches of fat and gained between 20% and 50% of their summer body weight.” All thanks to the wealth of Sun’s energy stored in ways that can fatten even a bear.
Corn fields are, of course, everywhere nearly ready to harvest, to fattend cattle and humans, the result of a summer of sunshine. On the nearby Oak I enjoyed seeing a Blue Jay harvesting acorns—they, rather than squirrels, are the #1 planter of acorns. And my friend, Rob, and I picked a bushel of plums off one tree in about 15 minutes! Wealth indeed.
So all of these are ways the sun’s energy is stored here on Earth and used to continue the circle of life. That energy is many times what we pump out of the ground and fight over. Many times. The solar panels on our roof capture a small portion of what we use; other solar driven processes fill in much of the gaps, whether community solar, hydro or wood fired sources. Without the sun there would also be no rain, no rivers and waterfalls—and no gentle breezes, no wind to turn turbines, and no hurricanes—because that same solar energy fuels a powerful, gigantic atmospheric pump that never rests. And the changes we humans have made to our planet mean more of the Sun’s thermal energy is sticking around…with deadly consequences.
So as we move toward Fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a good time to again acknowledge the truth about the sun. It is more than a blip on the weather report, or a way to make some electricity, or something we need to protect out skin from. It is, in all regards, the continuously unfolding source of life on this planet. ALL.
Still Learning To See 