When making your New Year resolutions, consider something about getting outdoors and in touch with nature. With this and any other resolution: be realistic – so you aren’t doomed to failure; don’t make too many resolutions – only those you really want to accomplish be specific and clear – so you know if you accomplished […]

The May issue of the Townsend Letter included an article titled What Causes Heart Attacks by Dr. Thomas Cowan.  Using a broad array of research Cowan explains why artery blockage is not particularly related to heart attacks and that heart attacks are more related to the function of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system.  The parasympathetic system, among a […]

How was your Christmas? How was your year? Where did you go? What did you do? What sights did you see? What air did you breathe? What textures did you feel? What photos did you take? What paintings did you paint? What poems did you write? What brought you joy? What are your plans for […]

The first Christmas program was held at the General Grant Tree in 1925.  President Calvin Coolidge designated the General Grant Tree as the Nation’s Christmas Tree on April 28, 1926 and a program has been held there every year since then. Each year on the 2nd Sunday of December, the Sanger Chamber of Commerce hosts the […]

I came across a book the other day,  The Golden Book of Camping and Camp Crafts.  It was published in 1959 and I got it when I was around 8 or 9.  My happiest memories from that age and younger are all about outdoor adventures.  Whether it was playing cowboys and Indians (I was always […]

Outdoor News, December 20, highlighted a new video from Destination British Columbia and noted that they have also produced a virtual reality experience for users of Oculus Rift equipment.  They also produced a “making of” video about the virtual reality experience.  Destination BC has a mission to bring visitors to British Columbia.  If potential visitors can […]

According to Oxford Economics in a report for the U.S. Travel Association: Americans are taking less vacation time than at any point in the last nearly four decades. In 2013, employees entitled to paid time off (PTO) took an average of 16 days of vacation compared to an average of 20 days as recently as 2000. Among […]

“Nature deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illness.  The disorder can be detected in individuals, families and communities.” Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods. Need a cure?  Find some trees, take a walk – […]

If you wanted to get more people outdoors and you had $100,000 to do it, what would you do? The Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy in Bay City, Michigan got a $100,000 grant to do just that. They plan to: clean up an underused park that is overgrown with vegetation improve river access for kayakers and […]

The Adventure Travel Trade Association came up with a new way to categorize adventurers and did a survey to learn more about them. The Three Categories are: Adventure Grazers – Novice or first-time participants that are eager to try new adventures (24% of the U.S. population) Adventurers – Thrill-seeking repeat participants with a favorite adventure […]