I think it was the year I lived in England that I first really noticed how my energy level is intimately linked to how much sunlight I get. When the sun barely made an arc above the horizon in winter all I wanted to do was huddle under my duvet and not come out until spring. I thought of this as I was filling out a survey artist Christina Seely handed out before her talk at Headlands Sunday in which she asked questions that probed how we measure days, seasons, time itself. During her presentation she spoke of how we use light to extend our days and the subsequent impact of both light pollution and energy consumption on the natural world and on our own rhythms. While at Headlands she has been working on a project using material she has collected in the Arctic, a place where the immediate effects of climate change can be seen in the coat of a fox that has turned white well before the first snow falls. Raised in Berkeley, Seely knows the dangers of being too preachy in her work, and she exchanged ideas with local Park Ranger Will Elder about how he similarly tries to couch any heavy message in ways that are more palatable to his audience. Seely and Elder were then joined by park restoration ecologist Maria Alvarez as they led us on a windblown hike down to Rodeo Beach, stopping along the way to talk about species that might disappear if their habitat is compromised and the trade-offs necessary to any conservancy effort. As Seely reminded us about connecting the macro to the micro, I was newly inspired to pay more attention to my own natural cycles, to spend ever more time under moonlight and starlight, and to not get so down on myself when my energy flags in winter. What are the cold months for after all if not for hibernation. And spring always comes again.
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