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Campfire Tales:                  What is it about...   | 
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                 Elizaray 
                outspoken 
                      
                680 Posts   
                Elizaray 
                  
                  
                
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                       Posted - Mar 14 2008 :  8:40:17 PM
                        
                        
                      
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                       What is it about the great open spaces, the majestic forests, the roaring streams, and tumbling waterfalls that makes our hearts leap up?
  Lets chitter chatter a bit.  I really am curious if you have always loved the outdoors, was it something that someone "taught" you to love, is it a recent love?  Who do you think of when you think about your early memories of the outdoors?
  Elizaray | 
                     
                   
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                 Jen 
                Expedition Leader 
                      
                1384 Posts   
                Jennifer 
                Calico Rock 
                AR 
                USA 
                1384 Posts  | 
                
                  
                    
                      
                       Posted - Mar 17 2008 :  4:16:06 PM
                        
                        
                        
                      
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                       It feels so fundamental & inherent in me. I'm sure my love of the outdoors has something to do with my upbringing - just being allowed to play & explore outdoors. But, I can't think of any one defining moment. The human species is deeply rooted in the wild, despite our best efforts to overcome our own heritage. Just think of how long we were hunter gatherers, in constant contact with nature, before we built all of these walls. Even the tamest among us still have an instinct somewhere within that causes them to pause in awe at the sight of an unspoiled landscape. It is, after all, our ancestral home.
  Jen
  Farmgirl Sisterhood Member #9
  The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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                 city chick 
                outstepping 
                    
                93 Posts   
                Deb 
                Chicago 
                IL 
                USA 
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                       Posted - Feb 12 2009 :  04:37:57 AM
                        
                        
                        
                      
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                       My Mom grew up in the mountains of West Virginia.  She's always told us stories of wandering the hills and exploring.  She met my Dad and they moved to Chicago where he was from.  My Mom made a point to make sure that we were exposed to the outdoors.  Good thing my Dad came from a camping family!  We headed out every weekend in the summers.  I would sometimes spend the entire summer vacation camping with my Gram.  I would head out as soon as I finished my breakfast and not come back to camp until I was famished!
  It just feels *right* to be outdoors.  To feel the sun on your skin, the wind in your hair - to hear the birds singing.  To smell the leaves in the fall.  I would much rather be out in nature than cooped up in a building.
  Even when we were "stuck" in the city, Mom would let us dig in the yard.  Get our hands dirty.  Encourage us to explore the world for bugs, worms everything around us.  Gram let us dig her garden every year - we'd find evidence of our Uncles digging expeditions!  Army men long hidden in the dirt from when they played there.  
  I'm striving to instill this love of the world in my girls.  To stop when they see something out of the corner of their eye - it could be a hawk or a beautiful butterfly.  Listen - is it a cardinal or a blue jay?  Kids are in a hurry these days to get home to their video games.  Slow down - enjoy nature.  You'll fall in love!
  	 http://www.xanga.com/My_Pondering_Place | 
                     
                    
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                 Elizaray 
                outspoken 
                      
                680 Posts   
                Elizaray 
                  
                  
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                       Posted - Feb 13 2009 :  5:46:29 PM
                        
                        
                      
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                       It think that is so awesome, Deb!  I always loved being outside as a kid, but I think that the respect and knowledge that my parents shared with me really enhanced my loved of the earth and the wild things.
  Elizaray | 
                     
                    
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                 Alee 
                outstepping 
                    
                104 Posts   
                  
                  
                  
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                       Posted - Feb 16 2009 :  10:20:41 PM
                        
                        
                      
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                      |  I feel the same way, Elizaray!  Sometimes I can just stand there and feel part of the power of the earth.  Like I am growing roots and reaching into the sky all at the same time.  I get this sense of timelessness- as if Mother Earth shares her history and the momentum for the future and I truly realize how Infinite the Earth CAN be.  It makes me want to protect her all that much more!  Something so large and strong can be so delicate! | 
                     
                    
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Campfire Tales:                  What is it about...   | 
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