Letting Go – Day 3
Amazingly, some plants’ seeds will only be viable for germination after certain conditions are met. Jack Pines need the intense heat of fire in order to release their seeds. Longleaf Pine seeds won’t germinate until they’ve been exposed to very high temperatures. If fires were put out immediately, never allowed to burn down some of the older growth and dead wood, some species would suffer greatly, potentially even disappear. In human terms, we prefer to ‘put out fires’ before they lead to devastation, potentially robbing ourselves of valuable opportunities to let go of our own dead wood.
Another way that ecological succession teaches us about letting go is through demonstrating that there are many phases to change. After complete devastation, for example the eruption of Mount St. Helen’s, the ground is bare, only a shadow of its former self. From another perspective, it’s ripe with abundant potential. Some species of fungi thrive in such conditions, and begin to appear quite quickly after such devastation. They may not last forever, but are there to prepare the soil for the other species which will come and take root, to repopulate and reform the forest in a new and beautiful way. Sometimes the new growth (seeds germinated as a result of the fire, for instance) is plagued by weather anomalies in its early years and doesn’t survive. This makes way for entirely different species to emerge, ones that weren’t compatible with the others. And the ash or detritus left by the destructive force may in fact provide excellent nutrients for new species and new growth to thrive. The gifts just keep on coming!
