A Natural Environment Is Far More Complex

We Attempt To Remember Our Collective American Childhood, The Way It Was, But What We Often Remember Is A Combination Of Real Past, Pieces Reshaped By Bitterness And Love, And, Of Course, The Video Past--the Portrayals Of Family Life On Such Television Programs As "leave It To Beaver" And "father Knows Best" And All The Rest.

We Cannot Protect Something We Do Not Love, We Cannot Love What We Do Not Know, And We Cannot Know What We Do Not See. Or Hear. Or Sense.

Nature Is Often Overlooked As A Healing Balm For The Emotional Hardships In A Child's Life. You'll Likely Never See A Slick Commercial For Nature Therapy, As You Do For The Latest Antidepressant Pharmaceuticals. But Parents, Educators, And Health Workers Need To Know What A Useful Antidote To Emotional And Physical Stress Nature Can Be. Especially Now.

In Our Bones We Need The Natural Curves Of Hills, The Scent Of Chaparral, The Whisper Of Pines, The Possibility Of Wildness.

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.