Published: March 30, 2022

The temperatures are rising, the flowers are blooming, and it’s officially spring. Time to take a nice long walk. If you’ve spent most of the winter on the couch, a walk may sound exhausting, but it really will make you feel better.

Spending time in a natural environment – a park or along the beach – does wonders for the mind and body, and is a gradual first step in getting back to your social self. There’s a lot we can learn from nature too. It’s quite amazing how nature demonstrates community and cooperation – things we all need.

If you happen to drive by an area that had a forest fire last year, you’ll likely see fireweed. Those are the tall plants with bright pink or purple flowers bursting out at the top of the stem. They’re not called fireweed because the blooms look like fire, but rather, because they are one of the first plants to grow after a fire, and the reason is incredible.

Fire burns the potassium out of soil, creating a deficiency of the nutrient that many plants need. Fireweed, and the other plants in its “community,” like asters, ferns, and parsley, restore potassium and add other minerals to the soil, making it habitable for a new set of plants. Then, those plants restore other nutrients, making way for the next “plant community.”

In older forests, you’ll likely see mushrooms among the trees. Mushrooms are actually the fruit of a much larger fungal organism that lives underground. Fungi have an abundance of thread like structures that create a network of mycelium. The mycelium wraps around and even gets inside tree roots, connecting trees to each other, sometimes over vast areas.  

The trees use this network of fungal mycelium to share! For example, older, taller trees transfer water, minerals, and other nutrients to younger trees that don’t get enough sunlight.

If you take a walk by the ocean, you may see dolphins, who are known to care for each other, and for other species, including humans. Dolphins were observed in 2013 trying to help an ailing community member. Five dolphins swam together, forming a raft, allowing the injured dolphin to ride on top. Ten other dolphins participated in this event, taking turns.

So, while we’re on the road with our cooperative network of shipping operators, be a fireweed that get’s things going, a tree that shares, or a dolphin, propping up a friend. Call a buddy or knock on a neighbour’s door, and get outside. You’ll both feel better.