Knowledge

This morning’s high tide forced me to walk on the grass, away from the sharp stones and rising water. It is not very often that I walk here, preferring to be at the water’s edge or on a lower tide, where the sea has left the shells.

There are a number of Pohutukawa along this route, which are now back to their green state, their magnificent display of red, well and truly over.

This set me thinking, as I walked past one tree that I had photographed only a matter of weeks earlier. I did write a blog back then about the significance of an abundant crop of flowers. I read somewhere where this can indicate a fine summer ahead. On another site, it said that an early crop of flowers could mean a long, hot summer. I am not sure whether this year’s flowering was early or not but it looks like we are in for a hot summer anyway. The temperatures have soared this last week, breaking records in some places. We have had several days of 28 degrees Celsius, inside.

We were told a few months back, as the weather pattern switched from La Nina to an El Nino to expect hot, dry days ahead. And yet, when this was stated, we seemed to have endless rain and cold temperatures. However, as the El Nino has taken hold, this prediction is turning out to be correct. I get that weather experts have plenty of resources to make these predictions but how the hell do trees know, ahead of time, what is coming?

It is not just the Pohutukawa that has been used to predict future weather patterns either, but Kowhai as well. When I lived in the Hokianga, I used to pass a cluster of these beautiful trees as I drove into the village. Local Maori informed me, and I can’t remember now which way around it was, that either early or late flowering, indicated drought. Whichever it was, the year when these trees flowered away from their normal time, we did have a massive drought, just as predicted.

These trees flower around August here in Northland, so once again, how on earth do they know that by February or March there is going to be no water?

There must be other indicators that we, as humans are unaware of, or perhaps we are too insulated, living in our disconnected-from-nature homes. Ancient Maori could predict a number of weather occurrences by observing their environment, but again, how do the trees and birds know in advance of what is happening, and do their flowering or nesting accordingly? I would understand, say, if it was particularly wet or dry, that that might influence a flowering time. Or maybe it is far simpler. Maybe these weather patterns don’t start when we notice them, with a drought for example, but months sooner. Perhaps all droughts follow wetter winters for example and the trees just respond to what is happening to them right there and then. I guess this explanation does make more sense. Or do trees have knowledge that we, as humans, have not even tapped into yet?