The Great Outdoors, y'all.

(Ha. I just gestured vaguely across the living room and said to Andrew, "Oh hey...can you hand me...the thing?" He just sat there and stared at me until I realized I was really not asking for anything at all. Tee hee. Poor Andrew. Also, I just found a cookie crumb in my ear. No joke.)

So, I'm reading an amazing book. The kind of book that leaves you breathless and gets your mind racing. Oh, it's just so good. If you've ever stepped outside and you've ever met a child, this book's for you. So, yes. This books for you.



It's not an expensive book, but it's absolutely a must-read for anyone who once camped outside in the backyard, who ever went to summer camp, who ever played on a playground without warning signs, and anyone who's raising a child or plans to in the future.

I was raised on a farm at the base of the Olympic Mountains in front of the Pacific Ocean by a family of nature lovers. Backpacking, homesteading, camping, bird-watching, hiking, beach-combing, skiing, RVing, any variety of outdoor fun. A recipe for a perfect childhood. My childhood impacted me in such a way that when I pursued a degree in Recreation and Parks Management, it was a soul-fitting education. My studies in R&PM were so eye-opening and really connected me to all of the things that I was taught as a child. I can only hope that my own children will eventually find a course of study that pulls their early passions into something that they can study deeper and connect with. This book once again drove home the importance of knowing how and where to play in the context of fully shaping the mind and spirit of a child.

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, would say that my ecstatic experiences in nature as a child are what shaped my ability to think, to find peace, to create and to connect with the world on a whole. The type of connection to the outdoors that I formed as a child is becoming a rarity among Lucy and Molly's generation. This book absolutely drove home the things that I found so soul-stirring as a child and gave me an intense desire to help shape my own girls' childhoods in a way that will connect them to the outdoors. I haven't spoken this passionately of a book in as long as I can remember. I'm almost finished with it now, and can't wait to start over on page 1 with a highlighter.

Last Child in the Woods absolutely drove home the importance of our decision to make our home in the neighborhood we've chosen. The tall trees, the lake, the golf course, the quiet solitude, the big windows, the large green lawn, the private feeling of the property, all things that our children will cherish as they grow.

Buy. This. Book. You won't be sorry, and you'll find yourself babbling about it constantly to any number of random strangers. And that, my friend, is evidence of a very good read.