There's been lots of talk here and elsewhere of the "nature deficit" experienced by we as adults, and by our kids. Weekdays mean we're off on the commute to work, and back after dark. On weekends it's soccer practice, or the batting cages, or just stocking up at Costco or the supermarket. Somewhere there we need to fit in an hour for a walk in the park, a spin on the bike, or jog with the dog.
It's a rare treat when we can get an outdoor experience from our living rooms, but that's what's possible all this week during Ken Burn's documentary special "The National Parks."
If you can't see this special, try to Tivo it. And not just for the pretty film images.
Burns and writer Duncan Dayton remind us how important our connection to place is and should be. And why the amazing landscapes of America have defined us as a people, and that how and why we protect them, will continue to define us as a nation.
The most important message from this documentary is that our battle to save and enjoy natural places, spectacular landscapes, has always been a story about people. Courageous ones, who bucked the dehumanizing pressures of the industrial revolution to argue that wild is good, wild is necessary, and wild can restore and remind us what is best about ourselves.
Watch Burn's special this week. Get your kids to sit down too. See if you don't agree.
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