Humans Value What They Know

Humans Value What They Know

If children do not explore nature, they do not know nature.

They will not fight to protect what they do not know.

It is imperative that parents take their children to the wild spaces near their homes. Humans are programmed to fall in love with nature. If every adult human (currently alive on this Earth) had the opportunity to explore nature as a child, the Earth today would surely have over 50% of its wild spaces protected.

My love affair with nature stared early. I was blessed to have grown up in nature. Even when my parents lived in the city, we had an acreage that we’d escape to on weekends.

I like to go deep into nature on weekends and holidays. However, the most fun I’ve had snowshoeing was during my lunch break, midweek, on the mountain in my backyard. The best time to snowshoe is after a fresh, deep snow. It’s a workout but for the most part, I feel like I am floating through a cloud of whipped cream. I sink down but snowshoes make it easy to keep trekking onward. Walking down steep hills is the most fun. I sink into waist deep snow and slide/float down.

Yesterday, the snow was fresh and deep and the sun bright. I strapped on my snowshoes and took my lunch break outside. I was the only human on the mountain–the trails were buried under deep snow. I did run into deer and a coyote. Here are a few pictures from my epic lunch adventure on the mountain:

It was the best lunch break ever. I’m strapping on my new snowshoes and heading back today!

Okanagan Lake as viewed from the top of Knox Mountain. Looking South (above) and North (below):

Below: The drifts at the back of the mountain were high. It was exhilarating to step through them. At one point, I worried about the stability of the drifts. When I stepped through them, I slid along with the snow, a little way down the mountain side.

Below: that’s the tip of my snowshoe ( bottom centre). This is how high some if the drifts were that I had to step through. I cannot lie, I loved it! It was so much fun high-stepping it in the sunshine and being (literally) the only human on the back of the mountain.

Below: me with one of my favourite trees. I adore ponderosa pines with their long, feathery needles, and red, chiseled bark. In the sun, the bark smells like warm, vanilla cookies. I always put my nose against the ponderosa’s bark and inhale. They smell so good!