Mother Nature adventures
John E. Peterson, Special to the Gazette
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Every spring, for the 18 years I taught mycology at the University of Missouri, I took my class out into the woods to look for fungi. We usually went on two or three such field trips so we could see mushrooms, puffballs, bracket fungi, lichens and other things in their native habitat. I do not remember most of such excursions, but one is still in my memory some 50 years later. I would tell about it, if I had my way.
We were in a wooded area with much bushy undergrowth. I, of course, was leading the 17 students as we pushed through the bushes and vines. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I was standing in poison ivy up to my arm pits. I looked back and all the students were in it, too. I was aghast at my being such a dumb botanist.
I immediately led us out of that area and back to the campus. I told the students about it and warned them to watch their skin closely. None of us ever got any of the usual poison ivy nastiness. How could that happen? But that is the way it would be, if I had my way. Sometimes Mother Nature is nice to dummies.
As we were getting out of bed, the radio said there was fog in the area. There was none where we were, lots of frosty grass and cars, but no fog. Within the hour, however, that changed. Wow! Did we have fog! It has been a long time since fog of that magnitude for us.
That was partly, I suppose, because we moved from our old, tree-laden neighborhood a few weeks ago. That was an area where we never really saw dense fog. Now, in our new location with rather long visual views, it was really apparent. Whatever the situation, that morning fog, which restricted vision to less than a block, brought a couple of small, trivial, but lasting memories to my mind.
One memory was of some years ago when I was scheduled to talk to grade school kids in Council Grove, some 35 miles away. That drive was in terribly dense fog all the way. I could only go about 25 miles an hour because there was almost no vision. I got there on time, had a great session with a couple hundred kids and clear sailing going home.
The other fog memory was of a drive in Sweden. I had gone off to the far north — across the Arctic Circle — to collect soil samples. The family stayed at home in Lund, way to the south. I had been gone several days and was anxious to get back to Lund, so I drove about 600 miles that last day. I hit dense, dense fog for the last couple of ours. I just had to creep along in my rental car — and on the other side of the road, too, as driving was in Sweden. I made it, but it was a lasting memory experience in my mind. I can still see parts of that drive right now 45 years later. Mother Nature can be tough on dummies.
I was about 12 years old when I had this experience with Mother Nature. We lived near the edge of DeKalb, Ill., on one side of town. Hence, we kids often wandered four or five blocks off and got into the country. Or we would go a bit further and get to the Kishwaukee Creek where we could fool around in the water.
On this nice winter day, however, a friend and I went clear across town and out into the country from there. We were some four-to-five miles from home. In those days, there were few reports of what the weather might be. It was a cold day, but nice. Mother Nature changed that, however, when we were way over there. We suddenly were in a blizzard.
Of course, we took off for home as fast as we could. Feet got go cold we could hardly move them, but we kept walking and running. And finally got to our homes. As soon as I told my dad about no feeling in my feet, he took command.
I was ordered to get my shoes and socks off, to pull up my pant legs and to go sit on the edge of the bathtub. He zoomed outside and gathered a couple of pails of snow. He brought them in and dumped them on my feet. Out he went for more snow.
Little by little the feeling came back into my feet. It must have worked because I never had any foot trouble for the rest of my life. My dad beat Mother Nature on that one.
These days we hear about cold fronts coming before it happens. We never used to know when they would come. On a warm day in the late fall in the 1960s, I was working out on weeds and rocks at our house in Columbia, Mo. I had on shorts and a shirt and was sweaty.
Suddenly, the air began to turn cool. It cooled fast and soon got cold. I had to quit working and get in. I do not remember most cold fronts, but I have never forgotten that one. Mother Nature can really make a blast sometimes.
I have had many other adventures with Mother Nature. We all have. Some are very memorable, like several more times when I got into poison ivy, but most of them are just soon forgotten. Perhaps I have reminded you of some of your adventures with Mother Nature. I did, if I had my way.
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