one with nature..

My niece, River, is a serious nature girl. She loves dirt, bugs, birds, water, mud. It's no wonder since her parents have practically raised her in a tent and sleeping bag, starting with a long backpacking trip when she was only 6 weeks old! She loves crawling around in the mud, she has no problem riding in a raft on class III rapids, and she can identify a bird from her bird field guide! We love you River and are so glad you are "ours"!


We stopped for lunch and I was keeping an eye on River. I let her wander out of my sight to see where her heart's desire would take her. She soon found a spot and nestled into the sand. I spied on her as she talked to and played with the little ants she found at eye level. She was completely content, a content 2 year old in the sand. My thoughts on this. I think all children are born with an innate love of nature and discovery of the outdoors. You take any 4 year old camping and they are sure to love it. If we do not cultivate a love of nature and expose our children to outdoor adventure, they become more detached from that natural desire to be close to nature. And if there is no connection with nature, we are just sure to shrivel up and die of nature deficit disease, right?! Getting kids away from electronics and out in the grass and dirt in bare feet is a wonderful thing.

"As a child, one has that magical capacity to move among the many eras of the earth; to see the land as an animal does; to experience the sky from the perspective of a flower or a bee; to feel the earth quiver and breathe beneath us; to know a hundred different smells of mud and listen unself-consciously to the soughing of the trees."

-Valerie Andrews