Letter 5 - The Sun in my Eyes is Iridescent

Do you sometimes feel that the more you talk about the hot weather, the hotter you feel? If yes, you’re not alone.

Hello there, dear reader.

How are things with you? 

Do you sometimes feel that the more you talk about the hot weather, the hotter you feel? If yes, you’re not alone. 

Come summer, and I remind myself of my summer rule. No, it’s not drinking tall glasses of Long Island Iced Tea, er, I mean tea, just regular sweet tea. It’s not that, despite how tempting it sounds.

My summer rule is not to discuss the weather, specifically the heat. Because, like you, I feel talking about the obvious heat increases the temperature.  Well, the truth is that it has gotten warmer- 2023 was the hottest year known to humankind since 1880. 

This year, too, we are facing horribly hot weather. We might be living through temperatures that test our limits without knowing it.

Call me naive, but I want to focus on the good things the sun can do. I prefer warm weather to cold, so there’s that. I also like what sunlight does to dragonflies. I read this fascinating article about how the average colouration of dragonflies seems to adapt to the sun’s radiation at the time. It taught me how we are all interconnected, from the mighty sun to the puny human, and the sprightly dragonfly. 

As you know, Mycelium Ecology is not just about conserving biodiversity in the Western Ghats; it's about preserving our future. This interconnectedness motivates us to do more each day. Which brings us to the news. It is interconnected, too. The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR) has been given 50 acres of land in the Kodagu district for vital work. This fills us with joy, especially considering how dire it seems. Climate change can cause irrevocable damage to the forests in Tamil Nadu in decades.

We know one of the biggest culprits—unregulated tourism and construction. When one has finite space, it is even more imperative to be careful how it is used. And so, the news that an e-pass is mandatory for the entry of vehicles in Ooty and Kodaikanal is a good step. Valid from 6 May to 30 June 2024, the epass will help with the massive numbers these hill stations see during tourist season. I’d like to think there will come a time when the government will restrict vehicles and people heading to any hill station. That would be something, isn’t it?

Summer is for many things, not just travel. At a dear friend’s home, there’s a multigenerational pickling process going on. My friend, her parents, and my friend’s children are taking turns stirring large containers of chhundo, the sweet and sour Gujarati mango pickle, on their terrace. As it cooks in the sun, the sugar melts slowly, and everything comes together in the harmonious way we often see in a jar of pickle. Elsewhere, this is also the time for papads and vadagams, all nicely toasted to a crisp in the sun. 

What do summers mean to you? How are you spending your time? You know what I am going to say—nature has the answers. Spend some time in nature. This could mean drinking coconut water under a shady tree, away from the sun, or talking to your plants and reassuring them that things will improve. Studies have shown that people feel a sense of expanded time in nature compared to urban environments. “Nature seems to slow and expand our sense of time.”

I recently welcomed two books to my house. Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year, edited by Hane McMorland Hunter, brings together the most sublime pieces on nature, one for each day of the year. Yes, there is a 29th February there, too—a small detail that delighted me. Delve into this any time during the day, and you’ll come away with joy. It’s beautifully illustrated and filled with fiction, fact, essays, diary entries and gorgeous descriptions from luminaries such as Virginia Woolf, David Attenborough, Henry David Thoreau, Jack London, Helen MacDonald, and Willa Cather.

Even the month titles are lovely. March is ‘The Spring Plumage of a Jay, ' and May is ‘Enveloped in a Cloud of Green.’ I’m utterly charmed by the book. 

The other is Every Day Nature: How noticing nature can quietly change your life by Andy Beer. It has illustrations (you’re seeing a pattern, aren’t you?) and the opportunity to find nature everywhere. From common pond dwellers - the dragonfly makes another appearance here, and the quirkily named water boatman, to shaggy inkcap mushrooms, described by the writer as “lawyer’s wigs,’ the short pieces are some of the most interesting that I have read. And yes, I checked for you and me, and there is a 29th February in this book, too. 

Do you have book recommendations for us? Do let us know.

There was a time when the hills were “alive with the sound of music.” Now, there are cacophony and high tempers. If movies are your way to cut out the noise, then here are some suggestions. Apart from The Sound of Music, we’d recommend March of the Penguins. Journey with the emperor penguins of the South Pole as they make their way to their traditional breeding grounds through the icy tundra. 

Another movie we think you’d enjoy is The Lorax. Based on a book, the movie focuses on the environmental harm humans are doing to the planet. The fact that the book came out in 1971 and the movie in 2012 makes you think, doesn’t it? I can also think of The Revenant, Into the Wild, and A Good Year. 

If we all treat the wild with reverence, we can all have a good year. And on this note, I shall send this letter off. 

From the rainlonging bunch at Mycelium, till next time, cheers, and bye for now.