Reliving Your Nature Memories During National Wildlife Week

For those of you who didn’t know, National Wildlife Week (March 15th – 21st 2010) is one of NWF’s  oldest traditions and this year we’re asking you to make a difference whether it’s…

Also– if you’re a motivated person with a desire to make that extra step– consider hosting a National Wildlife Week event!

NationalwildlifeweekWhat we’re also hoping is that you have a chance to relive your favorite moments in nature while encouraging your family and friends to do the same. If you’re an educator, parent or volunteer there’s specific ideas on how you can celebrate National Wildlife Week, but no matter where you are in life now, remember the important days of exploring the natural world. We’ve asked people to share their favorite nature memories, in honor of National Wildlife Week, in hopes that you’ll be inspired to  relive those memories too. Don’t let nostalgia weigh you down!

Sharing Nature Memories: A few kind souls offered up their favorites:Read these awesome nature experiences and comment below to share your own!

Matt Koltermann – My dad made a tree swing in the
woods behind our house, and I remember using it for years! I would push
myself off the tree and swing in a circle until I came back to the same
tree, and then push myself off again. Sometimes my dad would push me,
too, and that was a lot of fun because I went higher than I would have
on my own. The swing’s still there 25 years later, only the wood’s a bit
rotted and lots of little trees and underbrush has grown around where I
used to swing. Memories :)

CreekAnna Sophia – Wading in creeks! Also, putting my
dolls in tupperware and sending them down “river rapids” in creeks.


Sean Powell – I second Anna. There was a small
creek by my house that always set the scene for my next adventure

Peter Campbell – My folks were apart of a
collective that purchased property on the side of a mountain in New
Hampshire,and we would make the trek from Boston three or four times
each summer. No specific memory, but lots of recollections of following
the twisty stream around the mountain, and playing in the barn of the
nearby farm. Funny, though, can’t recall, if there was wireless
available. ;-)

Michael Sola – I was 12 and would ride my single speed bike with the banana
seat and fishing rod sticking off the back ala Mayberry days behind the
seat to this little creek on the outskirts of a small upstate NY town I
had just moved to – I remember seeing the fish running up that stream
and thinking if I built a small dam to block or slow the water a bit I
may have a better chance of catching these elusive fish. It never
occurred to me I was using the wrong bait or pole – but the thrill of
being in the water and moving rocks and seeing all the life that lived
in that little stretch of the outdoors always stayed with me.

John Haydon – My two brothers and I grew up in a small town in CT. We had a
couple of acres of land behind our house. 
Deep in the woods, there was a very old tree that was about 4 feet
in diameter, but very short. It had long heavy branches stretching out,
and a few of them broke off from age.
We used to play so many imagination games around that tree. We call
him “Mister Big Tree”.

Derek Markham– For about 5 years, we lived out
in the boonies in WV, with a great forest behind the  house. I used to
take my dog and ramble through there by myself, thinking I was Daniel
Boone or Davy Crockett. We also had huge vines in the trees that became
Tarzan swings for my brother and me. It gave me a great respect for the
solitude of nature, plus a desire to make my home out in the wilds
(still working on that one…)

TreesTaylen Peterson – I grew up in northern Minnesota
and lived in that lake all summer (and on it most  winters). My neighbor
and I found this “island” on the divide of our property lines on the
lake. Really it was just a little piece of land on the shore that had
some puddle around it making it seem like a moat. We dug it out to make
it more of a stream and built seats up in the trees out of trash and
fallen wood we found in the forest. We allowed our sisters to join in
the fun and we were the Kings and Queens of our newly discovered
territory…we even made maps and waged war on our surrounding
neighbors!

Summer Bundy – Age 6. Seeing a salmon spawning in a river up the road from
us. Or finding wild irises for the first time. Or finding a salamander
for the first time…

Katherine Butler – Just playing in the fields behind my parent’s house. I liked to build mini mud dams which somehow, never seemed to work.

Whatever you end up doing, know that NWF wishes you a wonderful National Wildlife Week!

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Published: March 8, 2010