The Natural State

Yowzers! It's been a week and I do not like being so out of focus and out of balance that I do not do what I like to do and, in part, that's write.

This week we celebrated Earth Day and really, shouldn't every day be Earth Day?

In my life-long recognition of Earth Day, I have planted pine trees with my parents and an oak tree with a group of kids from the church and the community.

I have spent my summer family vacations camping in the woods of Tionesta; using the cold, clear mountain stream as a natural refrigerator, walking in fields full of ferns, and marveling at my mother preparing a full course meal using camping gear skillets and pots and a dutch oven.

My appreciation for and love of nature grows from the foundation of my family and the influence of my father.

My Dad loved being outdoors. He was a skilled and avid hunter. His annual garden was legendary. He knew his stuff --- one of my fondest memories is drawing on my Dad's knowledge of the outdoors and hiking in the woods listening to his learning and using that to create an A+ Indigenous Trees of Pennsylvania Project when I was in the third grade.

One of my father's favorite times was to gather the whole family for Dad's version of having Sunday dinner out......literally.....all of us would hike into the woods, build a campfire, and cook our Sunday supper. Dad was a good leader and made sure everyone had a job to do. In case your wondering, I excelled at gathering wood for the fire. Because I was too little to carry the backpacks full of food and gear (that task was given to my brothers) and because (shock alert) I was spoiled and whined that I wanted to carry something, my Dad let me lug the skillet into the woods. Of course, I grew bored with this within 10 minutes and the skillet eventually made it into one of the backpacks much to the irritation of my siblings. For me, a win-win.

In many ways, I owe my love for nature and my need to spend time there and be nurtured by creation, to my Dad.

Friends, we need to commit ourselves to being better stewards of the planet. It starts with a respect for nature and understanding the truth in the statement that "what we do to the earth, we do to ourselves."

If willing, here's your assignment, you can choose one or all of the following. Let me know how it goes:

1. Spend 15 minutes of quality time with a tree.
2. Once a week, get out into the woods and waters.
3. If not yet familiar, discover the poetry of
Mary Oliver.

By the way, the photo for this post is of my father and me hiking in the woods. This was a serious hike and you learned early to be tough and make the steep climb.

Get outside!

sj;