Attention all HF friends, post here to be part of collaborative art

[NickoftheWoods]

I am creating an artist book for a class this semester at UW-Milwaukee and would like to include some of the thoughts and reflections from your experiences in the great outdoors. I am trying to discuss the idea that even though we are more knowledgeable these days about certain environmental issues, more kids than ever are disconnected from nature. A great book I found on this is Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder written by Richard Louv.

I did a survey of 22 fellow college seniors where they must identify images of various common plants and animals as well as images of nature from movies or even cartoon animals. All 22 students could identify the cartoon character Pikachu but only 14 could correctly identify a river otter. 7 knew what a Goshawk was and 20 could identify acorns but only 17 could tell me what type of tree they fall from.

More 8 year olds can tell me about deforestation of the rainforest and holes in the O-Zone than can tell me of the last time they went swimming in a lake, hiking in the woods, or stargazing.
Many of us can remember playing in tree forts, skipping rocks, and fishing in the creeks. I would like to ask everyone for a short phrase or sentence about what draws you to the woods, what you bring back from the woods, a memory of a great experience, the time you fell in love with nature, your hopes for your children in regards to camping/nature, why hammock camping is important to you, why you feel hammock camping is important for all of us.
I need posts by Tuesday afternoon.
Thanks everyone! I will have images of the final work next week.

[NickoftheWoods]

Just to clarify, an artist book is an book form used for artistic expression. The book I am creating is a flag book that will have several pages discussing love for the outdoors as a hammock enthusiast as well as your responses to my questions posted above. When the book is opened up the flags will fall like felled trees and cover the pages to produce an image of the forest with a few hammocks.

hmm...not sure this very clear either.

[romany]

but will try to post an answer by Monday. I do marble and wood sculpture / stained glass for a living (and have a kayak tours business). The kayak tours provide lots of time with wildlife which all help my glasswork and photography. (www.terrybrawley.com and www.easykayaking.net)

[Shug]

Not sure I actually know what your asking but I am focusing on ART.......I paint possums....my first remembered critter.
Shug

[DivaB]

For me, most of my memories of my childhood are of camping, and just plain being outdoors. The sounds, sights, smells, and the general feeling of freedom and being connected with things you just can explain. Being outdoors and in the woods, or along a running stream just tickles all of your senses in ways of making you feel more whole.

I started out wanting to get back in touch with nature for my son's benefit (he just turned 14 last month). I didn't realize the healing power that would help me feel better too. I was watching some of today's technology get in the way of my son developing internally with his inner most self (does that make since?). Xbox is a biggy.

Our tents and all the crap that went with them was too heavy and set up was too time consuming. Then my husband bought us a pop up truck camper.....what a nightmare. It was so nice of him to get for us, but not female friendly and it exhausted me getting it off and on the truck and level. As soon as my son and I got back home from a camping trip, I asked my husband to sell it. Do to some health issues my search went on to something that I felt was more female friendly, something I could easily handle, and something I could learn and teach to my son.

....in my search, I stumbled upon hammocking. I'm so grateful that I did! My son really enjoys it. He hasn't learned the techniques yet as he is not that driven, but you also have to understand he is a "city boy" and I'm working on things and trying to get some things back to basics and it doesn't happen over night. He also really enjoys the individuals he has met on group hangs. It gives him a good positive way to look at things and behave. Going on hangs has also given him an incentive to do better in school. If there is a group hang we want to go on and his grades are up, then I will take him out of school early so that we can attend....group hangs or just the two of us. Yes, school is very important....but right now in this stage of his life, I feel that this is just as important for personal growth.

I think being a part of nature is something innate in all of us, and you don't realize the importance and healing power that it has, until you get out there and just do it. For me it is just such a hard, deep feeling that I don't know how to explain it very well. But my hopes are that he finds that healing power and inner peace also.

If we could just down size and part with some of our pets....I'd love to get my husband out too. Again, I think the internal, and mental healing of being in nature is very powerful.

....did I touch on some of what your looking for in your question?

[Stone]

Its the smells for me. Just of whiff of the piney woods and my mind instantly flashes to a memory of the outdoors. The smell of a campfire, the woods, the water.....alll of it. I think Kipling said it best, "Smells are surer than sights or sounds to make the heart stings crackel."

[scubacat]

and this is my first post on HF after lurking for months. Seemed like a good topic to jump in with.

For me, it's simple. They say you can never go home again, but they're wrong. I'm old enough now that most of my family is gone and when I visit my hometown, there are nothing but memories to welcome me. I know I'm home, but it's as if I'm walking through a ghost town.

When I head down a trail into the woods, any woods, I get that same feeling of being back home, but one that is far from being inhabited by ghosts; rather, it's one that is bursting with life. I know that all those frogs and racoons and white-tailed deer I encounter are distant relatives of the same critters I marveled at as a kid while wandering the streams and backwoods of southern Illinois.

The woods accepts me for who and what I am - prince or pauper - just as my parents did when I walked through the door of my childhood home. It asks for little in return - some respect, a little care for all who live there. It has been there forever and with some vigilance on our part, it will be there for another forever.

The timing of your question is perfect. I'm getting ready to retire this week after spending 35 years in the high-tech corporate world. And this prodigal son is planning to get back to his woodsy home as often as possible in retirement.

Regards,

Curt

[FLRider]

The crisp breeze of Autumn on my face, the coolly mysterious shadows of the forest floor, and the fiercely burning colors of the changing leaves are what call me back to the forest. The quiet majesty in that elder expanse of nature is what sustains me once there. And the stillness of mind and spirit which it imparts is what restores and brings me peace me until my next visit.

[Dos]

Because I was raised both on a lake in Minnesota as well as an out island in the Bahamas, I wanted to extend the importance of connecting with nature to my son.
I chose to build a 2 story cord wood house from the ground up on 2 acres on the Deschutes River, WA. I built a cabin for my son that included a wood stove, an outdoor sink and a propane indoor cookstove. With these experiences he learned that if he wanted to stay warm he had to chop wood. He learned that hanging out the laundry outside the breeze provided a more potent infuser than any bottle of Febreeze could. He learned to fish. He learned to build a house. He learned to sharpen knives. He learned to cook for himself and for me. He learned to garden. He learned to put up food.
My son, now an urban dweller, is seeking a place that reminds him of the peace and serenity of the old growth firs, the sweet calls of the owls, the playfulness of the river otters, the sustainable food that the good earth provides. My son is searching to put his roots in this good earth so that he, too, can teach his children similar life experiences.
My son is also cheering me on with my thru hike hammocking this coming spring.
He is proud of his mom who continues to live in the vein she brought him up in and that so many today forget that which actually sustains us.

[Brassnut]

It’s the Peace that draws me to the woods. IT’s sitting in a hammock after a light rain shower, and all you hear is the sound of droplets landing on the foliage. The Smell of the freshness a rain can bring. It’s lying on a hill side with my son and openly talking about all the things he has going on and doesn’t understand as we watch the stars drift by. It’s remembering being a kid at a night time fish and camp. That’s a real good memory for me. I watched grandmother, mother and uncles catching catfish when I was supposed to be asleep. I never think about the sunburns and the hordes of mosquitoes till I plan my next trip and the things I need to take. For me it’s the slow pace of one breath at a time. When I pass my ashes will go to the woods, not a high priced hole with a pretty lawn.