I grew up in a small house in Eastern Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley. The Lehigh Valley has beautiful hills, and just to the north are the Blue Mountains. My backyard bordered a large park where a minor league baseball team had their field with tall stadium seating. There was a playground, a big pavilion with a snack bar where my friends and I worked games and got lots of free candy and soda. There were three other baseball fields, and I played starting when I was 5 all the way until there was softball when I was about 12. To get into the park, you had to go down a big hill, and I learned to skateboard there. It was exhilarating to speed down to the bottom of the exit all the way up to the entrance on the other side. All of this was lots of fun, but the best part was going to the creek (which we pronounced "crick").

Once I was old enough, I was allowed to go to the creek with my friends or hike alone with my collie, Misty. She was the best dog anyone could ever have and she looked just like Lassie but way cuter. I would skateboard, and Misty would come along with me – she loved to swim in the deep part of the creek where we had a rope swing. The creek had so much to do! Turn over rocks to find crayfish, fish, feed the chickens at the nearby farm, ride bikes through the fields and over the rickety wooden bridge - where I admit I totally fell off and still don’t feel the most confident riding! Just thinking about these days makes me feel good.

I know that you all have a story too – the days you used to play with friends until dark. The times when you were allowed to roam on your own and do things your parents never knew about. What if we could remember those days vividly. Maybe even write it down one day and share it with our loved ones. Or tell it to your family at the next gathering – I bet they would love to hear your story. They will feel closer to you because of it.

I want you to know that those days don’t have to be over just because you’re grown up now. Or just because you feel old, or are of a certain age where you think you can’t do such things. It’ll look different now, and that’s okay. I welcome you to rediscover nature in some way – perhaps it is going to Addie’s Cup, walking through the arboretum over the footbridge, and to the polo fields to visit the horses at the Hunt Club. Maybe it is hiking to the Chagrin River. Make a fire pit or buy one and have a campfire and s’mores with your kids and catch fireflies (or as we always called them, “lightning bugs”). For some with limited mobility, it might be walking to your mailbox or even just getting your favorite blanket and opening a window to feel the fresh air. We are a bird sanctuary in Gates Mills, and it’s a joy to just sit and watch the birds, especially in Spring and early Summer when we get many new migratory species. Hearing them chirp and chatter and watching them squabble over food can take us away for a moment to those days when all we wanted to do was be outside.

Rediscover nature in some way, even for a few minutes a day, I promise you will be glad you did.