SchoolsEstela RomeroJanuary 23, 2022

Winter time for Monarchs at the Reserve

SchoolsEstela RomeroJanuary 23, 2022

THE VISIT

“Isidro Fabela” Elementary

“Buenavista-Casa Blanca” Ejido

San José del Rincón Municipality, State of México

“La Mesa” Sanctuary

Coordinates: 19.6489621 -100.1354459

January is truly our wintertime in the Reserve and surrounding villages and towns.

Every early morning, at sunrise, all the green around at the Reserve looks white frozen. The frost shall melt by noon under the bright winter sun keeping our days cold (or even very cold like this week), but with temperature drops rarely to zero degrees Centigrade as it used to be around 10 years ago.

Now, our winter times are rather mild.

Our last snowstorm was in 2018. We have not had such a harsh winter since.

Our schools and homes do not have heating systems. It seems that we may not need them anyway as we did until a couple of decades ago. Global warming has indeed changed our climate conditions irreversibly.

During our conservation classes, students learn how the trees in our forests provide, among many other benefits, the regulation of climate, preventling extreme weather changes.

“It is through the decorations of the paper butterflies that we receive from our friends in the north, through the conservation classes and the varied content of books we receive as gifts, that our children and we, teachers, learn about monarch life cycle phases from egg, to caterpillar, to chrysalis to adult. We do not see these phases here so this knowledge helps us to understand the whole phenomenon of monarchs. As we only know them in our forests as the winter home for the Methuselah generation.”

…the Principal of the school, teacher, Alfredo, reiterated.

“Our students love to see the decoration in each of the Ambassador butterflies they receive. Look how our “Day of the Dead” ancestral tradition and the connection with monarchs’ massive arrival as the souls of our dead ones makes sense when conveying the fascinating mysticism of the Methuselah generation!”

…teacher, Xochitl, said.

So our visit ended at “Isidro Fabela” Elementary.

Upon leaving the school, Moms expressed their appreciation for our visit as they are very concerned about the conservation of their legendary forests, which provide clean air and water for the whole region.