A Walk in the Forest

Every parent has certain things they are adamant about passing onto their children. Whether it be kindness, hard work, faith, courage, education, or a long list of multiple things, each parent is tasked with teaching their children the most important things in life. My husband and I are no different. We have a list of things we know we want our children to have a solid appreciation and understanding of as they enter into adulthood. One of these things is a love of nature. 

Eyes closed, deep breaths, sun on his face, wind on his skin, he felt the connection that all humans intrinsically feel with nature.

We are born with it.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I love being outside, but I wouldn’t consider myself an “outdoorsman” (or, outdoorswoman). When the weather is nice, I could be outside all day. But, when the weather is the opposite, or when it’s time for bed, I much prefer a nice warm couch, bath, and bed.

But my husband is a different story. He would spend all day, every day, outside if he could. He says camping in 50 degree weather is ideal (what?), loves to snowmobile, spent a summer putting up fence in the mountains of Montana, often talks about volunteering to help farmers harvest in the fall so he can enjoy the view and the sunsets, spends many nights sleeping outside in a hammock every summer, and takes “Monte hikes” with the youth in our church every year in January. He memorizes star patterns above his favorite places, went on a three-day, 40-mile hike, took me to his grandparents’ acreage on our first date to look at the stars (the same place he proposed a year later), and is eagerly trying to get our family moved into the country so he can provide the same childhood experiences to our children that he was given. 

The man loves being outside.

So I decided to try and marry two of our loves last Father’s Day and bought him a book called A Walk in the Forest by Maria Dek. This book is simple and beautiful. Because nature is profound in its very sense, there is no need to force the penetrating connection that all humans feel to the outdoors, especially children. This book beckons you to go outside by reminding you that literally anything is possible in nature. Everything is big, and everything is small. Everything is new, and everything is ancient. Being outside creates in a child a sense of wonder that a room or a screen will NEVER accomplish or duplicate. And Maria Dek’s book is one of my favorite celebrations of this. 

I remember being the mother of a newborn. And I remember my son throwing fits and crying for what I couldn’t fix. But, if I held him and walked outside, he became calm. Eyes closed, deep breaths, sun on his face, wind on his skin, he felt the connection that all humans intrinsically feel with nature. We are born with it. 

And it is my prayer that my children never lose it. 

Emily

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