Global warming has arrived at long last in Minnesota. After an especially long and trying winter, spring has finally sprung here. As our eldest son (all of five years) eloquently put it: spring and winter are having a battle and spring is winning. And that means that the backyard skating rink is on its way to becoming the backyard wading pool.
As a child, I remember that we loved to go outside in the spring and play in the melting snow/ice, running water, and squishing mud. And our kids are no different today. Last Saturday was officially dubbed an "ice party" by them and we spent no small amount of time breaking through the ice on the rink, falling down and splashing around in the water, and recreating our own version of continental drift. By the time it was through, we were all pretty much soaked, but the melting ice had provided a grand opportunity for family fun.
[begin Noah Wyle voice]
But such climate change is not such fun for all creatures.
Consider the poor polar bear who is set adrift as ice floes break off. Cut off from the ice that provides the sustenance of life their very survival is now in risk. Your actions may determine whether this magnificent creature will ever roam the ice of backyard rinks for future generations to enjoy. Act is if everything is at stake. Because for them it very well may be.
[end Noah Wyle voice]
(Note: no polar bears were harmed in this production)
