This spring, I participated in the Scholé Sisters TechTonic mentorship. We read Amusing Ourselves to Death, Irreversible Damage, and Balanced and Barefoot. To round out a 5×5 category, I added Outdoor Kids in an Inside World by Steven Rinella and the introductions to Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. I recently finished Outdoor Kids, but I’m still plugging away at the HoNS Introductions with Cindy Rollins’ Patreon. I love this handy stand alone edition from Living Book Press which complies the different introductions from the series.
Steven Rinella is a professional outdoorsman. My dad immediately recognized his name from MeatEater, a hunting show. In Outdoor Kids in an Inside World, he argues that parents–even urban or suburban parents–can and should get their kids radically engaged with nature. Even reading the dust jacket, I realized that perfectionism, fear of failure, and impatience have been significant hinderances for me getting us all out in nature.
Rinella offers five venues for achieving this goal: camping, foraging, gardening, fishing, and hunting. As I read, I evaluated how we are doing in each of these areas.
Camping We’ve gone camping once or twice a year for quite a while, however we always go with our church or American Heritage Girls. None of our camping has been particularly roughing it, especially when it comes to camp cooking. I would like to look at the AHG camping badge and make some goals for upping our camping game.
Foraging I’m not good at noticing wild foods, but Zuzu spotted muscadines at the park. We all tried one of the ridiculously tart grapes, so we’ve at least taken a baby step in this direction. I have friends that forage more intentional, and I could learn what’s available in our area.
Gardening Each year, we plant tomatoes and flowers in our tiny yard and hope for the best. This year, we’ve actually had some success thanks to all the early summer rain! My kids get even more exposure at the farm, so I feel really good about this area.
Fishing My kids fish at my dad’s pond, but we haven’t done much around here. I’d like to collect what we need to fish in the city ponds and improve our skills. Again, the AHG fishing badge will be a good place to start with goals.
Hunting As I read this section, I considered joining Dad’s lease and traveling every weekend during deer season, but I quickly realized this would be overkill! One or two trips this year would do a lot for exposure. Taking hunter’s safety and getting in more target practice would also be good first steps.
As I considered these five areas, I noticed that any success we’ve had has been directly related to my Dad & Kay and American Heritage Girls. I’m so grateful Jason and I aren’t having to do this on our own!
P. S. My kids corrected me every time I said “Barefoot and Balanced” instead of the actual title. I’ve also said “Outside Kids in an Indoor World” a few times. Why are these titles so tricky?
humble adoration 