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Apr. 17th, 2012 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickIn the scare-mongering category of "OMG, Kids don't get outside enough", I present to you
And since it's not fun to list crap like this without commentary, commentary has been provided for you. Completed activities have been italicized.
1. Climb a tree -- Why is this always the ne plus ultra of "outdoor kids"? It's exhausting and uncomfortable and scratchy/sappy and I'm bloody well scared of heights anyway. But, y'know. Done.
2. Roll down a really big hill -- Really big means something different when you're like seven. But I've done this.
3. Camp out in the wild -- Does sleeping in my car at the competitive ride count? No? How about camping down by the river with Julie and Adam? In a tent.
4. Build a den -- Not sure what this means. We built lots of cabins and forts, though.
5. Skim a stone -- I am an EXCELLENT stone skipper. Grew up next to a lake, got lots of practice.
6. Run around in the rain -- Not much by intent, frequently by accident.
7. Fly a kite -- Yep.
8. Catch a fish with a net -- I don't like fish. How about dragonflies? I can catch them with a net.
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree -- I'm gonna count pears from the sorry-looking pear tree at the top of the hayfield.
10. Play conkers -- This is some British thing. I'm not British.
11. Throw some snow -- Yes, please. And I have a wonderful snowthrower, too.
12. Hunt for treasure on the beach -- Every beach trip. I really like the beach.
13. Make a mud pie -- haven't in years, but used to dig the clay from the bank of the stream and make it into things.
14. Dam a stream -- OMG, yes. Mad rush was one of my favorite childhood games. (Dam the stream, using sticks and leaves and mud. Wait for water to impound significantly. Break dam. Watch water run downstream, kind of running alongside it. Advanced version: Set up a series of impoundments so that you can start at the top and then break dams all the way down in a cascade of failure.)
15. Go sledging -- I am assuming this is British for "sledding"
16. Bury someone in the sand -- Yep.
17. Set up a snail race -- What? No. Just... ick.
18. Balance on a fallen tree Frequently. I lived in the woods.
19. Swing on a rope swing -- We had one that went out over the water so that you could swing out and then let go and land in the water. It was pretty awesome.
20. Make a mud slide -- I don't know what this is.
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild -- I still do this.
22. Take a look inside a tree -- Yep.
23. Visit an island -- I don't think Piggi-peggi really counts but it did when I was seven.
24. Feel like you're flying in the wind -- Yes, particularly before thunderstorms.
25. Make a grass trumpet -- I presume they mean a grass whistle.
26. Hunt for fossils and bones -- wasn't really one of my things but did find shells in the local limestone.
27. Watch the sun wake up -- we got up before dawn for the school bus, all winter long.
28. Climb a huge hill -- I do this on a regular basis even now. Ray's Hill, as it happens. Nearly every week.
29. Get behind a waterfall -- I've never done this. We do not have conveniently located waterfalls.
30. Feed a bird from your hand -- Ostriches at Rooster Cogburn's in Arizona. I've also held a hummingbird in my hand, but not to feed it.
31. Hunt for bugs -- we didn't have to hunt for them, the damn things are everywhere.
32. Find some frogspawn -- Yes.
33. Catch a butterfly in a net -- I'm counting the dragonflies. I've also caught butterflies just bare-handed.
34. Track wild animals -- Not successfully, ever. But I've looked for tracks and looked at tracks and stuff like that.
35. Discover what's in a pond -- No need to discover, already pretty much know. Am very familiar with local pond.
36. Call an owl -- Nope.
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool -- Do not live near the ocean.
38. Bring up a butterfly -- Fifth grade science. Thank you, Mrs. Decker.
39. Catch a crab -- Not near the ocean. How about crayfish?
40. Go on a nature walk at night -- Not on purpose. More by accident.
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it -- Of course. Also weeded around it.
42. Go wild swimming -- What the hell is this? Swimming in a not-swimming-pool environment? Of course I've done this. Dya think we chlorinate the bloody lake?
43. Go rafting -- With brother the elder, on the Yough.
44. Light a fire without matches -- I have never done this. Ever.
45. Find your way with a map and compass -- Never done this either.
46. Try bouldering -- What? Like at Rothrock? I climbed up some very large boulders. Not sure that counts.
47. Cook on a campfire -- Burned hotdogs onna stick!
48. Try abseiling -- no. Nowhere handy to do it. Also, heights.
49. Find a geocache -- Not that interested.
50. Canoe down a river -- Multiple times. If you tip the canoe over, the beer floats downstream.
And since it's not fun to list crap like this without commentary, commentary has been provided for you. Completed activities have been italicized.
1. Climb a tree -- Why is this always the ne plus ultra of "outdoor kids"? It's exhausting and uncomfortable and scratchy/sappy and I'm bloody well scared of heights anyway. But, y'know. Done.
2. Roll down a really big hill -- Really big means something different when you're like seven. But I've done this.
3. Camp out in the wild -- Does sleeping in my car at the competitive ride count? No? How about camping down by the river with Julie and Adam? In a tent.
4. Build a den -- Not sure what this means. We built lots of cabins and forts, though.
5. Skim a stone -- I am an EXCELLENT stone skipper. Grew up next to a lake, got lots of practice.
6. Run around in the rain -- Not much by intent, frequently by accident.
7. Fly a kite -- Yep.
8. Catch a fish with a net -- I don't like fish. How about dragonflies? I can catch them with a net.
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree -- I'm gonna count pears from the sorry-looking pear tree at the top of the hayfield.
10. Play conkers -- This is some British thing. I'm not British.
11. Throw some snow -- Yes, please. And I have a wonderful snowthrower, too.
12. Hunt for treasure on the beach -- Every beach trip. I really like the beach.
13. Make a mud pie -- haven't in years, but used to dig the clay from the bank of the stream and make it into things.
14. Dam a stream -- OMG, yes. Mad rush was one of my favorite childhood games. (Dam the stream, using sticks and leaves and mud. Wait for water to impound significantly. Break dam. Watch water run downstream, kind of running alongside it. Advanced version: Set up a series of impoundments so that you can start at the top and then break dams all the way down in a cascade of failure.)
15. Go sledging -- I am assuming this is British for "sledding"
16. Bury someone in the sand -- Yep.
17. Set up a snail race -- What? No. Just... ick.
18. Balance on a fallen tree Frequently. I lived in the woods.
19. Swing on a rope swing -- We had one that went out over the water so that you could swing out and then let go and land in the water. It was pretty awesome.
20. Make a mud slide -- I don't know what this is.
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild -- I still do this.
22. Take a look inside a tree -- Yep.
23. Visit an island -- I don't think Piggi-peggi really counts but it did when I was seven.
24. Feel like you're flying in the wind -- Yes, particularly before thunderstorms.
25. Make a grass trumpet -- I presume they mean a grass whistle.
26. Hunt for fossils and bones -- wasn't really one of my things but did find shells in the local limestone.
27. Watch the sun wake up -- we got up before dawn for the school bus, all winter long.
28. Climb a huge hill -- I do this on a regular basis even now. Ray's Hill, as it happens. Nearly every week.
29. Get behind a waterfall -- I've never done this. We do not have conveniently located waterfalls.
30. Feed a bird from your hand -- Ostriches at Rooster Cogburn's in Arizona. I've also held a hummingbird in my hand, but not to feed it.
31. Hunt for bugs -- we didn't have to hunt for them, the damn things are everywhere.
32. Find some frogspawn -- Yes.
33. Catch a butterfly in a net -- I'm counting the dragonflies. I've also caught butterflies just bare-handed.
34. Track wild animals -- Not successfully, ever. But I've looked for tracks and looked at tracks and stuff like that.
35. Discover what's in a pond -- No need to discover, already pretty much know. Am very familiar with local pond.
36. Call an owl -- Nope.
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool -- Do not live near the ocean.
38. Bring up a butterfly -- Fifth grade science. Thank you, Mrs. Decker.
39. Catch a crab -- Not near the ocean. How about crayfish?
40. Go on a nature walk at night -- Not on purpose. More by accident.
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it -- Of course. Also weeded around it.
42. Go wild swimming -- What the hell is this? Swimming in a not-swimming-pool environment? Of course I've done this. Dya think we chlorinate the bloody lake?
43. Go rafting -- With brother the elder, on the Yough.
44. Light a fire without matches -- I have never done this. Ever.
45. Find your way with a map and compass -- Never done this either.
46. Try bouldering -- What? Like at Rothrock? I climbed up some very large boulders. Not sure that counts.
47. Cook on a campfire -- Burned hotdogs onna stick!
48. Try abseiling -- no. Nowhere handy to do it. Also, heights.
49. Find a geocache -- Not that interested.
50. Canoe down a river -- Multiple times. If you tip the canoe over, the beer floats downstream.
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no subject
Date: 2012-04-17 05:06 pm (UTC)We made a swing from the biggest treefort we put up, and we're damn lucky no-one got hurt falling from it, because it wasn't so much an actual nailed-in swing as a very convenient big-ass creeper vine, which were very common in that part of the North Hills of Pittsburgh. It was held up by its own vampire-desperate death-grip on its victim tree, and no doubt if an actual adult had swung on it, it would have torn loose.
And lord god *YES* creek-damming is the greatest joy a socially challenged outdoors child can discover prior to puberty. Mud, shovels, water, physics, and the occasional violent unintended consequence? Dam straight! Who knew digging ditches could be so fascinating?
no subject
Date: 2012-04-19 02:19 pm (UTC)Er. The parental figures were doing the deeming, not the polluting :)
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Date: 2012-04-19 03:13 pm (UTC)