Summertime in August has to be for many a favorite month! “Summertime, and the living is easy,” as the song goes. It’s a good time to unwind and enjoy life a bit more, feel young again while enjoying all those summer activities we did as children, maybe even feeling our loved ones of long-ago summer fun.
I know our DP’s have had a hand in showing us the beauty of Nature. Maybe you came from a family of fisher-people. If so, you shared meals over a campfire under the sky that your mom just caught with lures your grandfather made. Or your Uncle was an avid bird watcher, and could whistle their sounds, or do the caw of crows. I also want to remind some city folks that Teddy Roosevelt was raised in NYC. He was very sickly as a young boy, so his father took him to the Adirondacks every summer, where he learned his love of nature. The result is, well…without saying, you should check out the amount of land he protected as part of the National Forest.
The Adirondack Mountains are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York State which form a circular dome approximately 160 miles wide and covering about 5,000 square miles. The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the highest point in New York at 5,344 feet.
FYI – quite impressive for a New York City boy!
Might I encourage anyone with children, big and little, to put down the i-everything (iPhone, iPad, etc.) and everyone experience an incredible day/week in nature. Teddy Roosevelt and many others owe their vision for creating the “National Parks” for everyone around the world to enjoy. I remain to say, never forget your dreams and visions; you have them for a reason, and one couldn’t help but feel all those with vision who walk through the woods, or a quiet canoe ride, or a sailboat, or just looking at the stars or a beautiful sunset. I don’t want anyone to forget that all oceans, lakes, and ponds are bountiful with nature. I have and always believe, as many others do, that “nature” is God’s church and temple. In its awe, that essence is all-empowering. I know with so many of you that I meet along the way, I’m preaching to the choir, but it is the earth that feeds, houses, gives us much joy in our lives, that we should never take for granted; rather, we should love, cherish, and honor the hands that feed you! Remember this land is our land, and everyone needs to fight to make sure it stays our land. Your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will thank you.
I had the privilege of connecting with a family over the weekend, and a quite amazing family it was. There were three children, a boy and two girls. I, of course, naturally figured the two adults were their parents; well, as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover. After all the horses, parents, and grandparents showed up, the brother of what I thought was the parent turned out to be the father of all these beautiful children. His brother and his wife were raising his brother’s kids.
His DP brother felt so honored by how well-behaved and good his children were, and gave an unbelievable heartfelt hug to the whole family for taking on what you have to know is a huge, huge responsibility.
I have always said, and will say again, “biology doesn’t make you a parent; it’s how one tirelessly and unselfishly takes on a not easy responsibility.”
It was also wonderful that all of the children had been visited by their dad and knew the particular way he visited each of them. Their dad may be in spirit, but they know he is still there and around all three of them.
I will say over and over again, so many people do heroic acts without acknowledgement, knowing in their hearts they have made a difference in someone’s life, in this case three children.
Then we hear how firefighters from Canada and the U.S. fight to save people’s homes and the forest we all love, risking their lives. Then there is Chef Jose Andreas, whose World Central Kitchen travels all over the world feeding people in disasters. There are so many who do wonderful ways of giving back; if you want to support causes, do those that save and make a difference in many lives. Many do these acts of kindness never seeking recognition but because they know it’s their path or destiny.
It’s so beyond wonderful to hear all the wonderful positive acts that so many folks go beyond that extra yard. Kudos and love to all of them.
I got to see the first potatoes come out of the garden today; how very cool!
Enjoy the rest of August. And a reminder: check out my August schedule!
