Get out!

Happy Birthday, Henry David Thoreau! Many of us first met Henry in our high school English classes slogging through his literary classic, "Walden Pond." Having taken another look at the book not from an assignment, yet, from wanting to, I found I really enjoyed it and there was a lot to appreciate about Henry.

Thoreau was a a big fan of sauntering --- which is walking around at a moderate, reflective pace thinking, observing, just being. In celebration of Henry's birthday, I invite you to saunter some today. Walden found much inspiration in nature and sought to live simply and in rhythm with the natural world. If your sauntering today leads you to the woods and you become inspired to build a cabin and take up residence, be sure to bring along writing materials, I hear that makes for a great book.

With our ever decreasing green space and our over-connected-all-the-time society, I think Throeau would shout, "Get out!" In part from incredulity and urging us to get outdoors and look and smell and go barefoot and splash in streams and sit underneath trees. At the risk of sounding pretentious, an op-ed by Timothy Egan in yesterday's New York Times entitled, "Let 'Em Eat Dirt," is a plea for parents to allow their kids to get muddy, eat dirt and run freely in the great outdoors. Egan's inspiration for the column came from watching a little boy playing in a muddy tide pool and then runnning off in pursuit of a butterfly and the author's friend remarking how rare it is to see children just outside being with all the cool stuff in nature -- no date-planners, no scheduled play dates, no helicopter parents.

I'm thankful for a great childhood where days were spent swimming in the creek, walking in the woods, playing catch in the field, digging in the garden and eating meals outside. This upbringing has served me well. Now a suburban dweller, I am making it a point to take daily walks near the river and to make time to just be outside in nature, with trees, the music of birdsong and animals that scurry loudly in the leaves.

The sun is shining, the weather is warm, the landscape is green....what are you waiting for? GET OUT!

sj;