Spring on the Columbia

Spring on the Columbia, originally uploaded by Wooly Biker.

If a guy or a gal was to take his kids backpacking, outrigger paddling, downhill or xc skiing, fly fishing, mountain biking or anything else that ended with an "ing" and involved fresh air and human power, you would think those kids would have a pretty good chance of growing up healthy and strong with a good appreciation of Gods Green Earth. At least that is my plan, and I'm sticking to it. I'm not sure if it will work or not, but it can't hurt. The alternative is to let them decide what to do with their time, and risk loosing them to the world of i-pods, cell phones, computer games and television.

I think an appreciation of nature also helps to curb materialism, because you are better able to realize that God already gave us just about everything we really need. Sure, we might need (want) to buy a different fly rod or a new bike every now and then, but we don't need a fancy SUV with 20" rims to get to the trailhead. And do we really need that 56" plasma tv to watch Myth Busters?

Maybe it's just me, but the older I get, the farther I want to be from our materialistic society. Just give me my family, a canoe, and a warm spring day, and I am a rich man.