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Do you want to step outside? Don't forget the sleeping bag!
Do you want to step outside? Don't forget the sleeping bag!
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/...ekalb/stories/ 2007/06/22/0623metbackyard.html http://tinyurl.com/369fqf By MEGHA RAJAGOPALAN The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 06/23/07 Chapel Hill subdivision in south DeKalb County isn't exactly prime camping territory. The houses are packed close, and nearby are fast food restaurants and busy highways. But that isn't stopping Gail Maunula and her three young sons. Though the wilderness-loving family has gone bouldering in Tennessee, hiking on the Appalachian Trail and is planning a cross-country camping trip next year, they've picked their own side yard for the last campout of the season before it gets too hot. And they hope the campfire's glow will attract other kids from the neighborhood who haven't had the opportunities to rough it outdoors. "It's simple, easy to do, and we don't have to pack up all our stuff," she said. "It's a good kind of camping." That's the sentiment behind the National Wildlife Federation's third annual Great American Backyard Campout, an annual event that takes place Saturday. When it comes to getting close to nature, the NWF says, a backyard is as good a campground as any. "It's not a hard activity, where you have to buy gear. You don't even need a tent," said Ashleigh Poff, a spokeswoman for the NWF. "You can just go out to your backyard and sleep under the stars." The initiative aims to address what Poff calls Nature Deficit Disorder - the condition of a generation of kids who prefer television and video games to hiking and roasting marshmallows. "They're losing their sense of wonder and exploration, and the desire to care for the environment," Poff said. "We're trying to address the disconnect." In Atlanta, Brendon Barclay is taking 40 kids camping on the 26 wooded acres at the Atlanta Outdoor Activity Center in West End. Barclay, who is the director of Sustaining Urban Villages, a nonprofit organization that instills a sense of environmental responsibility in urban children, tried to have a similar campout last year, but the event was rained out. This year, he has a backup plan. They'll move the campsite to the organization's building. "If we can't camp outside because of the rain, we're bringing it inside," he said. "Rain or shine, we want to make sure we do it right here." Exposing urban kids to nature can be tricky, but that makes it all the more important, Barclay said. "Imagine a kid who doesn't have any concept of why a tree is important, other than it looks nice and gives shade," he said. "We want them to learn about that." Maunula, who grew up in urban Los Angeles, never went on a single camping trip as a child. Instead, she performed in beauty pageants that her mother enrolled her in, but she envied her brother's adventures in Cub Scouts. Now she works hard to instill a love of nature in her own sons. "I was determined their childhoods wouldn't be anything like mine," she said. "I don't want to handicap them in the same way." Maunula, who home schools her sons, sees the world as a giant classroom. The three boys, who are 7, 10 and 12 years old, love video games as much as any of their friends. But they say their camping and hiking expeditions have taught them lessons books can't. "We learn how to respect the wilderness and get away from the little things that make life easy," said 10-year-old Langston. "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints." |
#2
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Do you want to step outside? Don't forget the sleeping bag!
Sleeping outside without a tent might be an okay fine idea in some
places, but don't try it in Ontario - you will be eaten alive by mosquitoes, blackflies, midges, no-see-ums, deer flies, blah, blah, blah. Trust me on this one. M. |
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Do you want to step outside? Don't forget the sleeping bag!
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Do you want to step outside? Don't forget the sleeping bag!
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