How Often Does Nature Call?

Several years ago, when I was working at a local Montessori School, one of the Head teachers and I were discussing some exciting ideas about outdoor education and plans for a nature trail behind the school. At one point she placed in my hand the book, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving OurChildren From Nature-Deficit Disorder”.  Living in a relatively rural area of New England, this book reminded me, that so many children in our country are missing opportunities to play, organically and spontaneously, in the outdoor world.  This world needn’t be the most isolated, remote mountain tops or streams but nearby parks with trees and ponds, or backyard woods and grassy lots.  There is so much to discover if you just kneel down and look at things crawling, hopping, flying; or spend time digging, climbing, catching; or squising your hands and feet in the mud, lifting a leaf or even lying down in a snow bank for several minutes and looking at the sky or tree limbs above.  There is even more to discover if you do these things different times of the day and in different seasons. 

These thoughts come as I anticipate the small, favorite, lesser known Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for trees.  Some liken it to the Jewish Arbor Day but with interesting historical links to ancient agricultural taxation, Jewish mysticism, early Zionism, and environmentalism.  New England is an exceptionally interesting location for celebrating Tu B'Shvat partially because its climate differs so much from Israel's!!  In Israel the sap is flowing, the almond trees are soon to blossom and the rains are nudging others to follow suit.  Here in northeastern Connecticut, our lumbering giants are still sleepy from the cold and have a couple of months to go before that sap begins to flow!  HOWEVER, there is still much to see and do around these wonderful friends here in our backyard woods even if there is snow on the ground.  Some things that I plan to be doing with several young children, will be following snowprints, hugging trees (literally), eating of their fruit (store bought I’m afraid), sledding (I hope), and renewing my commitment to our natural world and conservation.  HAPPY TU B’SHVAT!!