Happy Thanksgiving

Sunshine's first peak through the trees on a summer morning up in Entiat Meadows.

A view of some of our wonderful shrub steppe.

As Thanksgiving Day approaches it’sappropriate to think about everything that we have to be thankful for. There’s always the old, traditional choices of friends, family, good health, home, food, etc. Nothing wrong with those options of course, but what of the other options we don’t always think about? Things like trees, rivers, lakes, snow, rocks, sunshine, and mountains. All these things are a product of our environment and where we live. And it’s worth taking the time to look at them and appreciate what they offer us.

Imagine the world. Think of the variety between places. Freezing snowscapes where the snow lies as a blanket much of the year. Barren desertscapes covered in sand, the wind constantly reshaping the ground. Watery oceanscapes where you’d need gills to fully appreciate the life under the surface.

Snow lining a creek in late winter.

When you stop and think about all the options out there you realize what we have here is not something to forget and ignore. It’s something to appreciate and be thankful for. We live in an area with a great abundance and variety of natural resources. Our ecosystems range from shrub steppe to mountain to forest to alpine to freshwater. There’s a little of it all here.

What use are the rocks and the mountains you may wonder? They provide us with vistas and sceneries to ponder. Being so tall they also trap the snow. And keep it up high where it can accumulate. The snow provides us with a winter playground perfect for skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding. But it also melts in the spring, filling creeks, lakes, and rivers with fresh water all year long. This water in turn provides for us in many more ways. It provides a home for the fish that we like to catch. A source for our water hungry crops, which in turn provide us with the food we enjoy eating. This water also provides us with our low cost, renewable, and relatively clean power supply.

The last vestige of snow in Cow Creek Meadows.

The trees in the forest provide for us too. They give us lumber to build our homes and fuel for our fireplaces. We get to enjoy their beauty from afar and up close. They shade us from the sun’s heat by a remote lake or creek. And perhaps most importantly they provide us with oxygen to breathe—while at the same time pulling carbon dioxide out of the air.

The sunshine is perhaps the most useful of all. For without it nothing would live here either big or small. The sun warms us with its soft, yellow rays. Though it may not seem like it on a cold winter day. Without the sun nothing could grow. For the plants need it to photosynthesize as many of you know. The sun gives us our glorious summer. But it can also burn you, which is a small bummer.

When Thursday comes round and you’re ready to eat. And you’re starting to carve your favorite roast meat. Just remember all the things that our outside around you. And maybe this year try to give thanks for them too.

Snowmelt flowing down Ingalls Creek.

Remember all that Cascadia is offering right now. There’s the Native Plant Sale that still has plenty of plants left to choose from. We’re also hosting a Native Planting 101 workshop on February 8, 2014 from 12:00 PM - 4:30 PM. It’s a perfect opportunity to learn about ways to use all the native plants you can purchase from the Plant Sale. Last, but not least, we have 2014 Picture the Wenatchee Watershed Calendars. The calendars feature winning photographs from our photo contest earlier this year. Visit our website, www.cascadiacd.org, and click on the links down the right side to find more information about these three things as well as order forms to order your native plants and calendars.

The beginning of the Entiat River.