Archive: Opinions

Humans have always tried to exert their control over nature. Throughout history, we have attempted to rein in nature with varying degrees of success. In our attempt to achieve prosperity and a more comfortable lifestyle, we have damned rivers, erected windmills, changed the course of streams, and even harnessed the suns rays. It seems that there is no limit to our quest to control the forces in nature.

Attempts and ideas are one side of the equation. Success is ultimately the determining factor, and nature appears to be winning this battle, at least in our backyard. My wife and I are avid gardeners. We enjoy all that is involved with gardening from the planning and weeding to walking around and admiring the rewards of hard work. From flowers and shrubs to vegetables and fruit trees, we do our best to be one with nature.

But nature does not like to share. Nature wants to follow her own agenda and not be directed by mere mortals. History has taught us this lesson, but we refuse to learn. From evidence found in ancient cave art to modern advances in science, we have attempted to control nature.

At first, we offered up supplication to God. Early pagan rites and rituals were designed to appease the Gods found in nature hoping for successful plantings and harvests. Some of these rituals involved human sacrifices as well. Success was limited, but thousands of years later, Hollywood benefited with the ever popular sacrifice of a young blond woman to the Volcano God.

With the rise of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, society replaced the practice of offering human sacrifice to control the forces in nature with fervent prayers and other forms of supplication. People simply looked to their "holy books" for reassurance about unexplainable phenomenon in nature. This had a slightly better success rate but droughts continued, locusts swarmed without warning, and crops failed. Young blond women were much happier, though.

During the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, we began to employ reason in our world through science. Nothing would be left to chance or superstition. Each generation explored, examined, and explained the complexities of nature with remarkable success. Our quest to completely control the forces in nature seemed within reach.

Now, with our advances in atmospheric science and the invention of Doppler radar, we surely must be winning our battle to conquer the forces of nature. Alas, we are no better off than our ancestors marching with the young blond toward the volcano. This year, we studied all the predictable factors and got an early start to our flowers and vegetables. Extended forecasts indicated little to no chance of frost or other severe weather.

We planted the vegetables and flower. The first week went well, and the plants enjoyed the warm days and cool nights. Then our worst nightmare came true. Nature changed its course without warning. Warm days changed to cool days while the cool nights became cold and frosty. Our plants shivered and cried out for warmth. Nature laughed as we covered our plants with sheets and tarps hoping to save nearly two weeks of work.

An elderly neighbor warned us long ago, "Don't plant until Memorial Day; otherwise you'll risk a frost." Well, the frost came in early June this year. We followed all the rules, but nature did not.  Modern weather forecasting proved to be no better than the rites and rituals of generations long ago.

After a week of uncertainty, we managed to save most of the plants and have decided to return the old ways. After an afternoon of hoeing and weeding, we look up and give thanks. We are back to saying prayers just like our parents, our grandparents, and their parents before them. At least they could explain why things happened when they did with the simple phrase-nature always gets the last word. And that is to the point.

 

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