As the weather in our neck of the woods has warmed (almost too much by afternoon) we have steadily progressed towards the outdoors. Outdoor activities are always fun. While camping seems to either instill wonder or horror in people by the time they are teenagers, the outdoors have quite a lot to offer even for the most dirt/bug-averse among us. It’s true that technology hasn’t necessarily helped the cause of going outside. As devices become increasingly mobile that may change. As my job requires lots of time at the keyboard and staring at a screen, the outdoors provides a sense of solace that simply can’t be captured (no matter how many pixels per inch).
While I’ve been spending a great deal of time at home with my son this past year (caring for him during the day) it was, for much of that time, a great struggle to do anything with any frequency outdoors. Last semester saw the horror that was my qualifying exams. Preparing for that extended and overly complex series of exams spread over a semester took a lot out of me as a student, as a person, and as a father. With that behind me, and the improving weather, we’ve ventured back outdoors with greater frequency during the day.
Prior to noon typically works best. There is a wonderful park (sadly quite a drive from our home) that has two parks (one for small children and one for large), swings for all ages, large grassy fields, and a body of water full of fish and ducks. As the duck is one of our sons favorite animals (we have a little joke where he calls every animal a duck and I correct him and he laughs, knowing he is wrong) he is always happy to see real live ducks. Go ahead — go outside.