"In recent years, people around the country have been rallying behind a no-child-left-inside campaign, according to Richard Louv, the ground-breaking author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. In his book, he quotes James Sallis of the Active Living Research Program for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation who says that "an indoor, sedentary childhood is linked to mental health problems."
When I was young, I remember venturing out one day and I had no idea what the day would hold. I had with me: a styrofoam cooler, and cellophane wrap and some baloney. It so happened that while walking along a woodsy path in my neighborhood, my girlfriend and I happened upon a garder snake and we captured it. We put him into the cooler with leaves and wrapped the top with the cellphane and tried to feed him balony.
Afternoons like that were common. I would spend 12 hours a day out-of-doors. We would climb up (inside) the "spill-pipes" of the local resovoir to catch fish by hand, we wood build tree houses, or claim abandoned ones, in the "woods", and I remember flowers...fields of them! I remember my sisters collecting a bundle of daffodils one spring that was at least 200 stem count, and I thought it was so beautiful.
In my youth, I would be 'required' to go outside. I remember Mom saying..."better run along now and play...the summer's going to end before you know it!!"
Now I had to blush a little when the blog also read: "When I think about what so many children are missing today because they are stuck inside playing video games, or endlessly texting their friends, it makes me wonder who they will be tomorrow. Maybe they will be the computer gurus of the future. Or perhaps the next software developers. Or maybe the text messaging will spark an interest in writing a book."
My son is a "Video Game Designer" major at UCSC, and yes, he is left inside....hours and hours, playing and designing and thinking about games, how they work, how they are made, concept...the list goes on....He really is doing what he loves. That young man had plenty of out doors adventures, but it really isn't his bag. Is he missing out? I don't know. Maybe. I remember once going on a walk with my Mom. I was grown with children of my own, and she was living in a retirement community, but as we walked along the beach, she pointed out a silver dollar, a starfish, a flower... and with each, a delighted look on her face. I so appreciated that the simple things in nature had brought her so much joy...I try to model that in my own world. I even notice when the birds are chirping in the tree down our suburban street. We have a hummingbird feeder outside of our front window - that is the ultimate joy for me...to see and hear the buzz of those tiny birdies.
This summer is "in the books", for me. The faculty come back to the college Monday and the Fall semester begins. We have had a busy summer - moving at work and working 10 hour days, but then I have filled my Fridays and weekends with the zoo, the theater, music, balboa park, and I have to say - I am one lucky woman.
Stay healthy and take a minute to enjoy being outside...I know my family, especially my sisters and Mom, truly love being outdoors...and in gardens, stargazing, hiking... and delighting in all the wonder of the world.
