22 Oct 2008
Editor's note: Green Hour has caught on in a big way in the blog-o-sphere, especially with a group we affectionately call “mommy-bloggers.” Starting this week, our site will periodically feature bloggers who have spread the Green Hour message to their own social-media universe. This week's entry was originally posted on the Gray Area blog on Sept. 28, 2008.
Sometimes the Green Hour is Kinda Blue and Gray
Lately I've been following a website sponsored by the NWF called Green Hour, which promotes the idea of spending time out in nature with our kids on a regular basis. This is permeating the zeitgeist of late: witness the popularity of Richard Louv's excellent book Last Child In The Woods, legislation on "No Child Left Inside" and community events such as Make Tracks! Weekend and National Walk to School Day.
A green hour, or two, or several certainly sounds like a wonderful thing for all families but remember, particularly as we enter autumn in New England, that your green hour can also be gray, or reddish orangey brown, and -- as we march toward winter -- even white ... The adjacent photo was taken Christmas Day, 2007, at Jennings Beach in Fairfield, CT.
Even with a house full of brand new toys, look how much fun and beauty is present around: fresh (cold!) air, salt water, seagulls and a simple Nerf football. Nature loves us back all year long, and even though I may not want to drag my 40-year-old bottom off the couch on those chilly days heading our way, I hope I can look at this photo and be reminded of the rewards: rosy cheeks, camaraderie among brothers, their tired smiles as we head back indoors for some hot cider or cocoa -- and the ones you can't see, in the heads and hearts of the small people we will send out into the world before we know it.
 Nancy Gardiner, a sometime floral designer and full-time mom of three boys, is a native of Fairfield, CT. Her blog, Gray Area, focuses on parenting with simplicity in a complicated world. |
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