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Finding Time For A Green Hour, Part 2
Guest post by Anne Keisman
In January, we asked a few of our biggest supporters to share with us one of their most memorable outdoor moments. By sharing these kinds of stories online, NWF hopes to inspire people to jump off-line and into all the wonders that can be found outside in nature.
In one anecdote, Ashley Waldvogel, a mother living in Savannah, Ga., summed up beautifully how outdoor time helped her relax:
“ … I found, as I always do, that I could breathe a little easier, my fuse wasn’t so short, I had a smile on my face — even though the sink was full of dirty dishes and I hadn’t yet started dinner and the homework was yet undone. Some things are just more important.”
Today, a few more women share their favorite outdoor memories:
Holly Ambrose: Flower Child
“Before my first son was born, I planted a butterfly and wildflower garden in our yard…
One day when my son was about 15 months old, we went out to the garden. He toddled with me over the stone pathway. Then he leaned over a row of plumbago with its tiny periwinkle-colored flowers, sniffed loudly, and said, “Ahhhhh!” with a big smile on his face.
Even very young children appreciate the beauty of nature!”
Holly Ambrose is author of the blog Tropic of Mom: Life At Latitude 26. She lives in Florida.
Jane Kirkland: A Day of Firsts
“One of the most memorable outdoor experiences I had was with a group of kids from West Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Horticulture society arranged for me to take the kids on a nature walk in their own local park. This was a city recreational park complete with basketball courts and a soccer field, but it also had trees and walking paths. It was only a few city blocks square.
When I first arrived the kids were not at all interested and pretty reluctant to take a “nature walk” with me until I handed out binoculars. Then they were very interested. Most had never seen a pair of binoculars let alone looked through them. On that day they saw their first woodpeckers (believe it or not, three: a Hairy, a Downy, and a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker) their first Peregrine Falcon. These were “firsts” because the children had never noticed them before.
The chance to use binoculars and the discovery of woodpeckers in their city park had a huge impact on the children. By the time I left they were making plans on how they could protect the woodpeckers and provide food for them so they would stay in the park and not move away. They named the Downy “Woody”.
Jane Kirkland is the creator of the Take A Walk series of books
Veronique Christensen: Little Elephants
Veronique Christensen is a mom living just outside New York City, who never misses an opportunity to explore the nature in her backyard with her kids. She shares it on her blog, Little Elephants:
- … a muddy romp on an early spring day
- … a fun leaf-printing activity
- … the discovery of a “face” hidden in nature
Share your outdoor memories with us on our Green Hour Facebook page or on Twitter!
