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November 21, 2009

Outdoors experience important for kids

By ELIZABETH LEE, Living With Wilderness

Last Sunday morning, I started my day putting an apple cake in the oven, seasoning a chicken for roasting, starting a load of laundry and heading outside for some late garden chores.

After a few hours, I came in for a drink of water to learn that a friend had called. Her message: "I've finished my cooking, housework and laundry and am heading out to the beaver dam to see the herons' nest." Not reaching me, she headed out into the woods on her own.

There's nothing new about the fact that a lot of North Country women spend our weekends on cooking, laundry and housework — not to mention firewood, mowing and plumbing repairs — but a large share of us spend whatever discretionary time we have outside. This is a part of our lives that's as embedded as the household chores.

Because we live where trails and rivers are nearby, we can fit in more outdoor time than our suburban counterparts. By going outdoors with our backpacks, binoculars, kayaks, skis and bicycles, both men and women are doing for our kids and for the future what others are doing by keeping hunting and fishing traditions alive. We are showing children that time outdoors is free and stress-relieving and can lead to great adventures. You can take your friends or you can go alone.

For me, not just as a guide, but also as a parent it's a matter of culture and pride to know that the children I am responsible for have age-appropriate know-how to get themselves safely around outdoors. I guess it's the counterpart of gradually teaching your children the bus system in an urban area. I'm proud that when my 21-year-old daughter is home from college she goes snowshoeing with her cousin. I'm proud my 17-year-old daughter can stack a cord of wood that will stand. They have their fill of the Internet and cell phones, but their time outdoors gives them something that makes coming from the Adirondacks special.

When I was young, we sometimes went and played football at a neighbor's house after eating Thanksgiving dinner. The so-called field was the middle of a woody place that was surrounded by shrubs and birds, not unlike a lot of North Country backyards.

I was one of the younger kids and not a great athlete, but what I got out of the experience was the fun of being tackled into great piles of crunching leaves. The fun and laughing and piggyback rides on the shoulders of the big kids are inseparable from the cold air and the early stars starting to show as we walked home when it got dark. The same experience is still entirely possible for kids now, especially if the adults get up and lead the way.

Memories like that football game keep me suggesting outdoor time to my family, especially as the Christmas holiday comes near and we're suffocated by commercial messages. The leaves and stars and the frost relieve the stress of the food and the shopping and the hype. Chores or no chores, I want to see the rebuilt beaver dam my friend visited, because around the bend there could be an unexpected adventure that will make a good story and cement a great memory of home.

Have a great holiday.

Elizabeth Lee is a licensed guide who lives in Westport. She leads recreational and educational programs focused in the Champlain Valley throughout the year. Contact her at lakeside5047@gmail.com.

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