The Last Days Of Summer:

My friend Jim and I had to steal a fishing trip before the weather changes.  And what strange weather we are having. Of course we have seen this kind of pattern before: A warm prolonged summer-like season that extends into Thanksgiving and even December. The mountains remain largely dry and void of snow. Maybe today some snow will fall but then just as quickly it looks like it will warm up again. I bounce back and forth between two worlds; between two seasons that seem confused. Rather than plan a ski trip I will plan to fish again. I might as well go with the flow of nature.

But is this the flow of nature? Or have we changed the environment. I know this is "hotly" debated. Here is my thought: If we as a civilization are even responsible for a fraction of a percent of a global weather change then, this is profoundly significant; not in the usual sense of debating if there are dry spells, record highs, what might be happening to the polar ice caps, but, rather in how we experience nature.

Nature has had a bedrock independence from us and in some sense, its independence has been its defining characteristic. We experience nature as some "other." The fact that we seemingly can't alter nature is what makes it meaningful and therapeutic to us. There has to be some natural place that is not impacted by us; a place where we are not in control. As the saying goes, "You can't fight mother-nature." We might mess around with many aspects of life but when we go out fly fishing in nature,  nature should remain steady and indifferent to our petty activities. 

But suppose we have altered the weather even just slightly. While fishing, Jim and I felt the warm sunlight on our faces. I was fishing in shorts. It was a beautiful "summer-like" day.  We looked around at the beauty and said to each other, "Thank you God for this beautiful day." However, how can I truly say this anymore, if we have helped create the warming;even if only slightly? The beautiful day has a man-made "mark" on it and at least for me, that takes something away from how I experience the natural world.

If we have altered the weather then that change has robbed nature of its Independence. Our power has changed the meaning of a beautiful day and I am not sure that is a good change, regardless if the snow falls and blankets the mountains.

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