Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

Boreal forest in Canadaseverity of the environment and unpredictable weather. At the southernportion of the shield stretch the arms of an immense boreal forest.The word boreal means “northern” and refers to the land area justbelow the tundra, a region that has extremely cold winters and a short growingseason. Boreal forests have the simplest structure of all forest formations.They have only one uneven layer of trees, which reaches up to about seventyfivefeet (twenty-three meters) high. In most of the boreal forests, the dominanttrees are needle-leafevergreens, either spruceand fir or spruce andpine. The shrub layer isspotty. However, mossesand lichens form a thicklayer on the forest floorand also grow on the treetrunks and branches. Thevast boreal forest on thelower edge of the CanadianShield is constantlyengaged in photosynthesis,releasing oxygen into the atmosphere and then consuming carbondioxide. It is the primary respiratory region of North America.The folded Appalachian Mountains, which stretch lazily up theEast Coast, are worn stumps of ancient rock that once stood higher thanthe Himalayas! They project an old wisdom, and their valleys provide ahaven for the East’s many hamlets and villages. The many rivers have treecrowdedand grassy banks, and they amble slowly but steadfastly towardtheir destination.The predominant generalized etheric gestures expressed in the Easternerare a heightened mental alertness, a strongly developed feeling realmor appreciation of culture, and a more inwardly contracted personality. Appropriateadjectives would include taciturn, earnest, and nonsuperfluous.The Midwest is strung like an inclined hammock between the Appalachiansand the Rockies. At the ninety-eighth meridian, the grass prairiesand savannas begin, and a region of big weather, big sky, and an annualtwenty-inch rainfall begins. Here is the continent’s balance point. Thelandscape balances between the forces of earth, sun, water, and air. It ismuch like the balance our circulatory system achieves. This region is theheartland. The people, like the landscape, are generally open, warm, andwelcoming.29