Nature-Deficit Disorder

Ok, walking IS fun!!! We walked the hike-and-bike trail this morning and it was totally worth it.  It was very peaceful and quiet walking among the trees.  Somehow, seeing the early morning dew on the grass and the tall trees in the background invigorates me.  We will  have to take that path more often.  It turns out there is a shortcut from our house to that park that we took the kids on Sunday.  It took us 40  minutes to get there on Sunday.  Today it took 10 to get home from the park using that shortcut.  I will have to take the kids on it today after school.  They love being outdoors. 

Recently, David and I attended a fundraiser for the West Cave Preserve, a 30-acre geological treasure in the Hill Country.  The speaker was Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.  He spoke about children suffering from nature-deficit disorder.  He said most adults who care about the environment had a transformational outdoor experience as youngsters.  His main worry is who is going to care about the environment in the future if today's youngsters spend most of their time indoors watching TV, playing video games, or on the computer?  

It's a very compelling argument.  I think back on my childhood days and recall fondly being outdoors most of the time.  Partly because we didn't have air-conditioning and partly because my grandma would send us out to play and we couldn't come back until she was done mopping or cooking dinner.  Most of the neighborhood kids were out there with us, too, for the same reasons, I suppose.  We invented Olympic games, fairy games, races.  We climbed trees.  We built forts out of branches.  We hid in the tall grass.  It was awesome how much time were outdoors. I also remember going to the beach almost every weekend once the weather got hot and we went fishing at the port year-round.   I remember building forts out of mud at the port while our parents were fishing.  That was so much fun!

We want our children to care about the environment, too, and I wonder if we are doing a good job teaching them to love and care for the outdoors. Our friend's house backs up to the greenbelt and her boys and DK love spending time out there "exploring" and building forts and tree houses.  We go hiking any chance we get.  We just started going camping regularly with the kids the last few years. But is that enough?  

I am actually thinking of starting a nature club at school.  Louv recommended that.  There are many organizations who offer nature club start-up kits.  I'm envisioning a group of kids that:   1)  goes hiking regularly, 2) plants a garden at school and then sells their plants/produce at the farmer's market, and 3) listens to nature-oriented speakers regularly.  I guess starting a club like that can be a goal of mine for my last year at home.  I need to work on finding a teacher to work with me so we can incorporate what we are doing with the lessons in school.  This could be do-able.

Ok, I'm off to pick up the kids from school.  TTYL.