New Year’s Resolution by Josh Palumbo, Forest Management Coordinator.Wherever you stand on resolutions, we probably agree that making improvements in our daily life is a worthwhile pursuit. I won’t dare to make suggestions on how to improve your personal life however I will suggest steps towards making yourself a better naturalist in 2025. This Nine Minute Naturalist will provide resolutions aimed at improving the many budding naturalists at Wintergreen.
New Year’s resolutions did not begin with Dick Clark in Times Square no matter how much that image is engraved on our minds. New Year’s resolutions are attributed to the ancient Babylonians. Their new year began in mid-March and was centered around crop planting. The Romans adopted the tradition of New Year and the resolutions that accompanied this celebration. The Julian calendar was established and our resolutions have begun on January 1st ever since. A tradition created around the celebration of the seasons and our connection with nature seems like a lovely segway into resolutions deepening our connection with nature at Wintergreen.
My first suggested resolution is to go outside for a walk everyday no matter the weather. This seems like a bold and impossible task considering the frigid cold and icy snowpack across our landscape. Clothes can be added, umbrellas can become a staple and bug spray can be applied but the resiliency to any conditions is a learned trait. Getting yourself into the outdoors allows for every other resolution we will discuss to become a reality. Erling Kagge, the first person to walk to the North Pole, South Pole and the summit of Mt. Everest, wrote an interesting book called Walking: One Step at a Time. This mix of psychology, science and history behind walking makes a compelling case of the importance of walking every day. If a man that walked in the worst conditions on earth says it is possible, who can argue?
The second resolution for 2025 is to gain a new environmental skill set. If I told you to get better at every environmental skillset I would be asking too much. Gaining one new facet of knowledge is possible and will go a long way to your naturalist training. The wilds of Wintergreen make the options abundant. Tree identification is available during daylight hours 12 months a year. You can learn bark and transition to leaves in the spring/summer and relearn the bark again in the fall. Wildflower identification will begin in earnest in April and will change by the week. That skillset offers new challenges throughout the bloom season. Birding at Wintergreen is awesome. We have a variety of year round residents that can occupy the mind early in the year and the migrants will arrive beginning in April. Learning to ID by sight is an option before the canopy of leaves obstructs the view and forces you to learn by ear the calls of each species.
Mushroom foraging is a fascinating pursuit that ends in delightful sustenance for the knowledgeable naturalist. Morels begin popping from the ground in April and other lovely edibles will keep you foraging well into the fall. Fishing in the waters at Wintergreen is a pastime that will be sure to thrill and frustrate alike. Pauls Creek and Stoney Creek host populations of brook trout and the many ponds at Wintergreen are full of bass, bluegill, crappie, carp and catfish. So many challenges await!
A third resolution is to do your part to improve Wintergreen’s claim to be a Bear Smart community. The ongoing mange has thinned the population a bit and has given us a new beginning to keep bears ignorant of potential food sources. Once we have a bear or two that learns how to break into cars or homes the problem spreads. Often the bears most comfortable amongst the Wintergreen humans are females with cubs. The development offers a bit of protection against large dominant males that will attack cubs. Family units that learn to eat human food sources will branch into many problems once the cubs are on their own. The lower population levels means we can almost start fresh. Make sure dumpsters are properly latched. Ensure you don’t leave food in your vehicle and lock it up just to be sure. Identify the entry points in your house that may prove problematic if a nuisance bear comes around. 2025 can be a great year for Wintergreen residents to break the cycle of educating bears.
“The world is your oyster” is derived from a William Shakespeare line referring to the richness of life. Even if oysters are not your standard of richness, we are surrounded with every opportunity to be a better naturalist and steward of the resources around us. The resolution possibilities are endless. Make one today!