Nature Is Beautiful, But Not Always Pretty.

The Dugout In The Weeds Or Leaves Beneath A Backyard Willow, The Rivulet Of A Seasonal Creek, Even The Ditch Between The Front Yard And The Road-all Of These Places Are Entire Universes To A Young Child.

Nature Introduces Children To The Idea—to The Knowing—that They Are Not Alone In This World, And That Realities And Dimensions Exist Alongside Their Own.

When We Raise Our Children, We Relive Our Childhood. Forgotten Memories, Painful And Pleasurable, Rise To The Surface.... So Each Of Us Thinks, Almost Daily, Of How Our Own Childhood Compares With Our Children's, And Of What Our Children's Future Will Hold.

Something Else Was Different When We Were Young: Our Parents Were Outdoors. I’m Not Saying They Were Joining Health Clubs And Things Of That Sort, But They Were Out Of The House, Out On The Porch, Talking To Neighbors. As Far As Physical Fitness Goes, Today’s Kids Are The Sorriest Generation In The History Of The United States. Their Parents May Be Out Jogging, But The Kids Just Aren’t Outside.

The Pleasure Of Being Alive Is Brought Into Sharper Focus When You Need To Pay Attention To Staying Alive.