Global warming advocates living near the path around the Falls took another hit on the chin when Mother Nature surprised residents by magically transforming Sunday night’s rain into Monday morning’s snow.
The 2-inch layer of slush on the drive into work that morning allowed drivers to be reminded of the physics of hydroplaning, a phenomenon in which a thin layer of water can cause a heavy vehicle to be lifted above the surface of the road. While this may provide a thrilling floating sensation, in that state of floating, there is no ability to steer the vehicle, which can elevate a driver’s pulse rate.
Perhaps it is Mother Nature’s wellness plan to get the blood flowing a little faster on the first morning of the work week.
Global warming must be a popular topic as we approach next week’s Earth Day. State Rep. Jeff Mursau included two questions about it on his citizen survey that could be found in local mailboxes last week. Given the timing of the survey, most likely there will not be much support from survey respondents for doing anything about human impact on global climate change. Rep. Mursau will be able to take that priority off his “to do” list.
Many global warming proponents might respond that the current seasonal situation is just temporary, and things are only turned around for the short term. In fact, from a much different perspective, that was the case all week. As the quill is put to the parchment to write this week’s observations, the date is 4/14/14. Take out the slashes and it reads the same frontward and backward. This is known as a palindrome. Each day this week qualifies.
The concept can also be found in words and phrases. Ambigrams are an even more complex palindrome that need to be flipped 180 degrees to be read back to front. These added fascinating intrigue to Robert Langdon’s “Angels & Demons” and “The Da Vinci Code.”
The cover of Paul McCartney’s compact disk “Chaos and Creation” was graced with an ambigram of his name. Perhaps it can work in weather, too. Winter, spring, winter? Seasons are upside down?
Climate and the connection to food received some attention in the media recently with record high prices for beef and dairy products. Weather, or the lack of rainfall, has resulted in drought conditions in Texas and California and was a factor in those high costs for beef and dairy in those states, respectively.
California dairy promoters some time back used a promotional campaign in which they touted the milk from “happy cows.” A happy cow is one thing, but a thirsty cow is quite a different matter. Some have suggested that if God intended dairy cows to be raised in California, the name of the state would have been Wisconsin.
Over time, as forces such as global warming impact agricultural regions across the country, Wisconsin and other Midwest states have a natural advantage: abundant supplies of the world’s best fresh water. We may have wished that Monday’s precipitation came in another form, but Wisconsin’s agricultural economy thrives on that fresh water, even if it comes in slush and snow.
People in northeast Wisconsin may not have personally experienced drought conditions in recent times, but the interconnectedness of our food supply affects what we put on our table at home and what we serve on the lunch line at school. In addition to being challenged by regional drought situations, school lunch costs have also been challenged by new federal regulations requiring more fresh vegetables and fruits, among other new menu regulations.
One of the concepts promoted in many school lunch programs is the “farm to school” philosophy, which promotes buying locally to help the local economy, lower transportation costs and increase the freshness of food being served.
Unfortunately, unlike the lunch programs in California, the current supply of local fresh fruits and vegetables is not very abundant. The district’s effort will continue at the start of the school year, when snowfall is less common.
Many of the greenhouses in the area are starting bedding plants, but the timing is a bit of a guess as to when customers will be in the market to buy plants for transplanting in gardens. The smart money is on a late planting season.
With Earth Day just ahead, there will be a number of litter pick-up activities. None of that was possible early this week, due to the latest blanket of snow.
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