Being With Plants: Editor’s Letter and TOC

Taking a walk probably isn’t the cure for everything, but it can’t hurt.

Whenever I go around the block or into the woods, I like to remind myself that even if the fresh air doesn’t seem to be clearing my bad mood away, the plants I pass are releasing aerosols that can reduce anxiety and improve brain function. Even if we can’t feel them in the moment, the benefits of being with the natural world will likely manifest later, the result of an ancient relationship that circumnavigates the thinking mind.

We are proud to have won six awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association — three for photography. We also won Best Use of Social Media, Best Magazine Article, and a Lynn Smith Community Leadership Award for our 2023 coverage about gender-based violence. Holding our awards are co-editor Lydia Moran (l) and marketing manager Amber Lynum.

Because of that, I usually dictate these editor’s letters while wandering around outside. Right now my feet are plodding the soft earth at the edge of the Mississippi River. There is no snow; instead, I gaze down at a murky network of mud and muted green-and-brown grass, dead leaves, twigs, stones, and many more things I can’t see.

Someone in a full-body wetsuit is gliding over the iceless river on a water hoverboard. They look like a character out of a sci-fi movie; the purr of the motor cuts through the soft lapping of the strangely flowing river. Is this the future of Minnesota winter recreation?

While this year’s weird temperatures are largely the result of El Niño, Minnesota’s winters are getting progressively warmer, and the warmer months are getting wetter. Many species of wildlife, including iconic northern tree species such as spruce, aspen, black ash, and birch, are expected to decline, as well as the habitats that support wild rice (manoomin, psíŋ). Human health, agriculture, and infrastructure will be impacted by increased flooding, longer allergy seasons, expanded tick ranges, and warmer temperatures.

Globally, the Guardian reported that the planet was 1.48°C (correction: about ~2.66°F) hotter in 2023 compared with the “period before the mass burning of fossil fuels ignited the climate crisis.” Scientists say the higher temperatures are in line with the predicted result of increased carbon emissions, but the speed and intensity of severe weather impacts — such as heat waves, loss of sea ice, and wildfires — is alarming many experts.

“Every year for the rest of your life will be one of the hottest [on] record,” Professor Andrew Dessler of Texas A&M University told the Guardian. “This in turn means that 2023 will end up being one of the coldest years of this century.”