This phenomenon has given me joy, wonder, mystery, beauty, excitement, and life-long pleasure.

It has been going on for a long time in my life. This is about joy.  It’s one of my favorite things-even today. It began when I was a boy. Growing up on a dairy farm in west central Minnesota placed me in a strategic place for it. Outside was my playground and pastime. Time outside in every season put this phenomenon in front of me and on my mind each month of the calendar. Once it was shown to me by my parents, my interest in it grew. This phenomenon has given me joy, wonder, mystery, beauty, excitement, and life-long pleasure. It has never cost me anything but time. It delights me that every year and each month, I can look forward to it, knowing it will come again with the same pleasures and delights. Yet as time has passed, it has also become clear that with every climate influenced seasonal change there are variations and shifts. No season is exactly like the last, but there is nothing new.

Seasonal change contains a solid timelessness.

Phenology is the study of the timing of seasonal changes in nature. The word phenology originates from the Greek word “phaino” meaning to show or to appear. Phenology is the science of “appearances,” or in fall, “disappearances.” My invitation to you is to become a student of phenology. To begin, think with me about phenology. I was 68 in April of this year. For nearly 7 decades, I have watched seasonal change. The mysteries of the timing of seasonal change fascinate me. So many questions arise. Observing phenology throughout my lifetime has revealed a power my mind cannot fathom. The timing of climate based seasonal changes is never dull, never monotonous. The regularity of these changes is repetitive and predictable, yet, the details of seasonal change are always varied and specifically rich in real events.

Call it watching and listening to a living earth symphony.

Every season has particular and predictable events associated with it. Spring and fall bring major change in bird populations as movements north, then south occur. Approximately 350 species of North American birds make seasonal movements in migration. About 4,000 species of birds or 40 % of the total number of birds in the world migrate. Some migrate short distances from higher elevations to lower, others medium distances within a state. As a boy and now a grandfather, the long distant migrants fascinate me spring and fall. Hawks, waterfowl, songbirds even Turkey Vultures always generate questions like:  Where did they come from? Where will they migrate? How long will it take…and the best: what will they see that my eyes will never see?

Phenology is a branch of meteorological science which considers the influence of seasonal climate change on recurring annual events in animal and plant life. While birds are the obvious markers of seasonal or phenological change, there are many others. Insects migrate short medium and long distances. Consider the Monarch butterfly, a long-distance migrant of up to 3,000 miles! Another awesome aspect of phenology is leaf budding and flowering in spring and summer followed by leaf color change and drop in fall. Seasonal climate change creates stunning, astonishing beauty in plants. Humans spend thousands of dollars annually to view fall colors created by a seasonally changing climate. Think of the photos taken, the miles driven, the human schedules changed to view the yellow, orange, red and scarlet colors of fall.

Taking up the study and observation of phenology is blessing for mind and soul.

Even at this moment (October 2019) physical changes are occurring in mammals in response to the approaching winter. Be awed, these same changes have occurred each fall for millennia past. How the Jack Rabbit and the Weasel change from brown furred mammals to white never ceases to astonish me. There is a trigger I cannot see-but it delights me. Woodchucks, chipmunks, 13 Lined ground Squirrels, and the bears black, and brown will one by one move to winter long hibernation dens. The heart rates and bodily functions of these animals will slow as they begin the long sleep of winter.

Perhaps you have experienced the invasion of the millipedes in your home. It’s phenology. How do these tiny creatures with far less than a pea sized brain know to move to winter protection? Last one… it is a fall season favorite-the Wooly Bear caterpillar. Every fall these larval caterpillars migrate locally to locate an overwintering place. In spring they will pupate and then become adult Isabella Tiger moths. Did you know it has a body antifreeze to prevent its death during winter cold?

Truth, phenology is fascinating to me.

Give your attention to the relationships and responses of plant and animal life to season-based climate change and you will discover a truth more fascinating than the seasonal response of nature. You will see the power and divine nature of a Creator. God changes seasons, climate and all of the natural world. Study phenology, watch seasons change. Wonder at what you see. You will see the hand of God.

It is God who choreographs the phenological symphony. He decides the who, what, when where, why and how of nature.

The Bible explains what God does. We cannot explain everything, and we do not need to. God is over all. Phenology is His creation…

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:1,11

Question: What should we do with phenology? My two-word answer: observe it. While observing use three words Why, how, and who? Be steadfast in observing year-round. Eventually you will meet God.