The Green Hour

Yesterday after dinner, I insisted that we (myself and the children) go outside for The Green Hour (http://www.greenhour.org), even though it was misting and wet outside. I just had to get out and Bret was away on a business trip. The Green Hour says that every family should get outside in nature for at least an hour a day, citing evidence that being in nature is on the decline. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America says so (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0709893105v1). Heck, National Public Radio says so so you know it must be true (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18698731).

This evening we are very rewarded for our effort. We slip out the back of the townhouse at RiverRun we are renting and down the hill to the creek. A herd of deer is just ahead of us, stopping to stare before sending up their white flag tails and bounding away. They accompany us on our short walk always just yards ahead of us. A HUGE Eastern cottontail speeds away from us like a silver bullet. My goodness that thing was the size of a small dog. Skunk cabbage is starting to come up next to the creek and the forest floor is alive with Dutchman's Breeches and Trout Lilly. The Spice Bush is still blooming and the creek is up from the rain. The deer bound ahead of us, and my son bounds after them before experimenting with hiding next to trees, and inside parts of them. He is wearing gray camouflage, so his hiding is good. We turn a corner and a huge deer is standing there, not 10 feet away. I swear my shoulder is as high as hers. A smaller deer joins her and they bound into forest toward Meadowcreek Golf Course. We stand in the rain and watch about ten deer browse and cavort on the course about 1oo yards away.

What a great way to end the day. Nature. You gotta love it.