When I was a kid… well that was a long time go, before cell phone, and computers, and calculators – all we had was outdoors and we treasured every minute! We climbed trees, made shelters, explored, played with our friends, and made things. We didn’t have a watch or street light to tell us when to come home in the summer. Instead we watched for the fireflies to emerge, that’s when we headed home. Life was simple. We learned so much about our surroundings because we were immersed in it. We knew where to find apples and berries in season. We had a place to go for clean water. Our dad took us out to watch meteor showers, have a walk in fog so thick that walking 15′ away I couldn’t hear him. The best was when a hurricane hit and he let me go outside, for only a few minutes, when the eye of the storm passed overhead. All those experiences imprinted on us how absolutely amazing the Earth is. I still love being close to nature. When I had my own children I took them out too so they could connect. But time has changed. and when I became a teacher it became glaringly aware to me that kids were more connected to technology that they were
