Charles Dudley Warner, editor of the Hartford Courant and a good friend of Mark Twain, once remarked that while everybody talks about the weather, nobody seems to do anything about it.
Today, as extreme weather becomes increasingly common and the science of climate change more widely accepted, many people are wondering whether there is anything they can, in fact, do about the weather.
This month, The Nature Museum at Grafton presents two events that take an optimistic, can-do approach to the often overwhelming issue of global climate change.
In her new book, “Finding Higher Ground: Adaptation in the Age of Warming” (2011) author and ecologist Amy Seidl takes the uniquely positive-yet realistic-position that humans and animals can adapt and persist despite climate change.
Environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben has called it a landmark book, and written that “Amy Seidl talks us through the possibilities we have on the planet we've created.”
On Thursday, April 25, at 7 p.m., Seidl offers a free talk and book signing at NewsBank Conference Center, 352 Main St., Chester.
Author Curt Stager writes, “Not since Helen and Scott Nearing penned their testaments to the 'Good Life' has a Vermont author given us such a thoughtful, hopeful, and pragmatic guide to living lightly-and well-on this long-suffering planet.”
Seidl's book is available at Misty Valley Books and at the Whiting Library.
Seidl writes that, “While 21st century technologies will play a role in how agriculture adapts to the Age of Warming, traditional farming practices may be more lasting.”
One such ancient technique is the capture and use of rainwater.
'Water Conservation Through Rainwater Harvesting'
On Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to noon, The Nature Museum will host “Water Conservation Through Rainwater Harvesting,” a free workshop and homestead tour at the home of Steven and Nancy Davis.
The Davises' home, at 1162 Lovers Lane in Chester, boasts rain barrels, a catchment pond, a greenhouse, extensive vegetable gardens, and a solar-powered drip irrigation system.
Experts from Your Best Rain Barrels, Erskine's Feed & Grain, and Net Zero Renewable Resources will be on hand to help you determine how rainwater harvesting can work in your garden. Organizers say to bring the kids-Nature Museum naturalists will lead kid-friendly activities near the pond.