Reflections on "Mother Nature's Child: Growing Up in the Media Age"

On Monday night I went to a screening of the film “Mother Nature’s Child: Growing up in a Media age” at the Decorah public library. It was quite a good film, and a good way to spend my evening. Most of it was things I already knew/believed, but they definitely made some points I had never thought of before and left me with things to think about.

To start off, I will quote a statistic from the film (it may not be exactly this, but it was something close to this). On average, kids spend 44hours/week in front of a monitor (tv, computer, video game, etc) and 40 minutes/week outside. That breaks my heart. It is hard to imagine spending so much time indoors, and hardly ever getting outside. When I was growing up, I was outside the vast majority of the time. Climbing trees, playing Frisbee, walking to the park, reading by the creek, etc. And sure, I played Nintendo games too, but the proportion of time in front of a monitor vs time spent outside was definitely completely the opposite to how it is for most kids today. And of course, there are problems that occur as a result of this. It is believed that this current generation of children is the first to have a lower life-expectancy than their parents. How disturbing is that?! Childhood obesity is up, along with things like diabetes and asthma. It is easy to see the correlation between lack of time outdoors and those issues. What I never really considered is the effect on behavior. For one thing, it is believed that increase in cases of ADD and other such attention issues might be related to lack of time in nature. That I had heard before. What I hadn’t heard was the effect on bullying. The more I think about it, it does sort of make sense though. If you are constantly indoors, not working outside cooperating with other kids, instances of bullying might increase. In the film they noted that often times, the kids who are the trouble-makers inside the classroom are the same ones who become leaders when the kids go outside. They take that energy and use it in a positive way, rather than a negative way. Sure, this may not always be the case, but to me it definitely seems like a plausible possibility a lot of the time. 

Another point made in the film that I had never really considered, is that when kids play outdoors in nature, they have to use more problem-solving and critical thinking skills than when they are inside and even more than when they are playing on playgrounds. When out in nature itself, kids are more creative, more likely to invent games.  There were some fantastic clips of kids playing outdoors, making up games, building forts from sticks and leaves, climbing through a hollow log, etc. Seeing things like that just gives me immense pleasure. Some of the kids interviewed talked about how they feel a sense of calm and peace when they are outside. That is gives them a chance to just relax and contemplate things. That really hit home for me, because that is exactly how I have always felt when I go outside. Suddenly, everything just seems better, more tranquil. Then there was one kid who in class was saying how when outside he noticed the trees and thought about how the smaller trees were still reaching out, growing towards the sun, despite being overshadowed by bigger trees. The teacher mentioned that that was phototropism, the need to always grow towards the sun. Then the kid was saying how it was inspiring, and how it could equate to his life. That just because you aren’t the biggest or the strongest, that doesn’t mean you won’t succeed, or that you don’t have strengths of your own. Sometimes, kids can be really surprisingly insightful. 

I think the biggest fear of mine is that kids will lose that appreciation for nature, if they continue spending less and less time outside. It was mentioned in the film that most people who identify themselves as environmentalists or conservationists or something of that sort, had some sort of transcendental experience while outside. So then the question becomes, what will happen if the next generations don’t really spend time outside? There will be significantly less people who are concerned about the environment, fewer stewards of the planet if you will. That is a truly disturbing thought to me. I hope and pray that that never happens. Luckily, there are people in all places (cities, suburbs, rural areas) who are making efforts to get kids outside more often. I think it is important to try to incorporate time in nature during the school day, but it is also extremely important for parents to make it a priority. I don’t necessarily plan on having kids, but if I do I can guarantee you that they will not have a cell phone until they are at least in high school, and I will insist that they spend time outdoors each day. We’ll go on hikes and I’ll let them go explore. Ah, that was another point in the film; the impact of “stranger danger” on this epidemic of kids not spending time outside. They made the point that child abductions are always hyped up by the media. Yes, when it happens it is dreadful, and obviously that is a parents’ worst fear. But, the facts are that most of the time, abductions are by family members or someone close to the family. Very rarely are they actually strangers. Most of the time, it is still safe for you to let your kids play outside. But it is challenging to get people to see that, when the media does such a good job of scaring everyone into being terrified of letting their kids out of their sight. 

Overall it was a very interesting film, and one I would recommend to everyone, but especially parents and teachers. Definitely gives you things to think about. The people who hosted the event at the library also mentioned another film called “Play Again” that is supposedly a bit darker, but about similar concept. I am going to try to see it sometime in the near future. 

For now, I will try to end this post on a happy note. One of my favorite parts of the film was when one of the people being interviewed told a quote from his son. Apparently one day his 5 year old son came up to him and said “Dad, are God and Mother Nature married, or are they just good friends?” Sometimes kids really are fantastic. :) 

Free Concert in Fayette

             Well last Saturday night was a very pleasant surprise, I must say. When I was first exploring Fayette, I saw a flyer in the library for a free concert at the opera house in town, and decided that I would check it out. Tonight was said concert, and it turned out to be highly enjoyable! And free! Which just makes it that much more enjoyable. :) The group is called Red Cedar Chamber Music. There are two permanent members, and then they often have guest musicians playing with them. At tonight’s concert the guest was a cellist. They play on authentic 19^th century instruments for much of their music, which is incredibly cool. Also, tonight they played almost entirely music from modern composers, many of whom were from Iowa! And one of the composers was in the audience! Very neat (his name is Harvey Sollberger, for anyone who is interested in looking him up). Now normally I am not always the biggest fan of modern music, but I actually really liked the majority of the concert. I must admit that the one composer makes me free incredibly inadequate. He was born in 1987. Need I say more? Lol. He is from Dubuque, but went to school at Juliard, and is now getting his masters at Yale. Yeah. He is the current composer in residence for the group, and one of the pieces they performed was written by him just this year, so we were some of the first people to hear it played. It was hauntingly beautiful. They played one other short piece by him as part of a collection by various composers, and that one was written when he was 16. It was also incredible. Which is just, ridiculous. I mean, it’s great, don’t get me wrong. But it is hard not to be envious of those geniuses lol. Anyway, I will definitely keep an eye out for things by him in the future. His name is Michael Gilbertson.

The whole concert sort of revolved around Dvorak in a way, which was an interesting concept. Especially since they only played one piece actually written by him. But nearly everything else was inspired by him, or a response to one of his pieces of music. For instance, the composer who was present, Harvey Sollberger, wrote a piece called Spillville that was a response to a four piece movement Dvorak wrote when he was in the states and briefly staying in Spillville Iowa! So cool! 

Another really neat thing about the concert was that the musicians spoke a little bit about each piece before they played, which helped to make the music even more enjoyable, at least to me. Afterwards, when I was handing in the comment card that they had asked us to fill out, the guitarist came up and was speaking to me about their music. He was very nice, super informative. It was great getting to talk to him a little bit.

Overall, it was a fantastic way to spend my Saturday night. I only wish my family could have been there, especially my dad and my sister. I think they would have really loved it. :)

Exploring Iowa

Since arriving in Iowa, some things have been as I expected, and others have been a complete surprise. When I first got out here, it was FREEZING. My first full day of work (Sept 22) I nearly froze. I could not feel my face and my ears hurt SO MUCH. I was concerned, not gonna lie. But, since then, the weather has actually been mostly quite nice. It is normally in the 60s/70s during the day and so it was much more pleasant while walking. More recently it has gotten colder again, but I have bought a hat (since I stupidly forgot to bring mine) and I have my nice warm neon-colored Sundance jacket that serves a dual purpose – it keeps me completely warm, and it serves as my safety vest (I don’t have to wear an orange vest because the coat is brilliantly neon on its own). 

At first I was a little bit concerned. I knew that I would be in the middle of nowhere, and I thought I was prepared for that. I thought it would be good in enabling me to spend time working on grad school search, etc. However, I hadn’t really considered that having NO ONE around and NOTHING to do would leave me with TONS of time on my hands. I really missed my friends and having things to do. Both of the closest towns are barely towns… they don’t have much in them at all. Not even a bookstore or coffee shop. But, then I discovered that there is a preserve nearby that has a ton of trails and actually has some lovely hiking (with pretty fall colors and even some elevation!). That has been a huge life saver. Then I also discovered that there is a town (Decorah) about 50 minutes away that is an actual town. It is really cute and has neat stores that I like going in – a book store, a neat music/movies store (kinda like Princeton Record Exchange. Not as awesome but still pretty great), a local natural candles store, delicious ice cream shop, etc. And best of all? There is a co-op grocery store. That was the thing that really made things better. The grocery store I had been going to was basically the only option and it was fine but they did not have most of the foods I would normally like to consume. The co-op, however, is perfect. They have a wonderful bulk foods section, they have all the healthy food I would normally want to buy, and they even have a café where I have gotten tasty lunches a few times. Their seating area for the café has wi-fi too, which is wonderful. To top it all off, there are a series of trails just outside Decorah that again are quite pretty and have real elevation to them. I’ve been making a trip to Decorah at least once a week, and it is nearly always the highlight of my week. :) 

fall colors on trails in Decorah

in the preserve by my house

The other huge surprise of middle-of-nowhere Iowa is that there is one of the greatest radio stations I have ever heard. In fact, the more I listen to it and the more I think about it, it might just be the best radio station I have come across thus far in all of my travels (even better than my favorite Philly station 104.5). They play such a wide variety of music, tons of which I have never heard before. Then they play gems like an old-school Guster song, a new Glen Hansard song, a They Might Be Giants song that I had never even heard before, and much much more. It makes my drive to and from work (and during work) that much more enjoyable. Good music, as I note time and time again, simply makes everything better. :)

And so, things have been going well. Work is, well, not great but it is fine. My friends have been phenomenal – I text and email and talk on the phone to people all the time. And I have lovely places to go hiking. I also have been able to be relatively productive on the grad school front, which is a relief. I think, in the end, it was a good decision to come out here for this month of temporary work.

Road Trip to Iowa!

It may seem to everyone that I am constantly traveling, and that is usually the case, but lately I had been feeling very stationary. Without really realizing it, I really missed being on the road. When I found out I was going to Iowa for this job, I realized it would be my first road trip since the end of November last year, when Kate and I drove out to Utah for Sundance. And to me, that just seems unacceptable. I was itching to be on the road. And possibly the best part of this road trip? As with my last one, I was not alone! My friend Dave came with me this time, and I was reminded once again just how much more enjoyable travel is when you have a friend along with you. 

Zodiac art in Princeton

Since Dave has not spent much time in Princeton, we wandered around there a bit – walked campus (they have these new, slightly frightening, animal heads on spikes by the one fountain. Realized they are zodiac animals. Makes it fractionally less freaky, but only fractionally), got ice cream at Halo Pub cause well, that is a must, and then spent some time in record exchange. I could literally spend hours there. It is a problem. If I ever have a place of my own and have a record player it will be utterly hopeless. As it stands I always have to set myself a time limit on the car meter so that I don’t spend all day there. Dinner at Fedora in the hometown and then we went to a Florence and the Machine concert in Camden before leaving, which was lots of fun. She is such a wonderful singer; it is nice hearing someone that talented live. Plus, she played one of my favorite songs (the video is weird, but just listen to the lyrics and her voice :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGH-4jQZRcc). Stayed in Philly with another friend. I am so incredibly lucky to have such fantastic friends who are willing to let me crash at their place with next to no notice. :)

The first day was nice and easy. Just from Philly to Pittsburgh, so we didn’t have to rush out. Grabbed a late breakfast at Wawa, because I realized being from the Midwest, he did not know what Wawa was, and that is simply unacceptable. I don’t quite know why I have such pride in NJ/east coast things, but I just do. Like Wawa. I pretty much never go to them. I think people often really like their coffee and I don’t even drink coffee. But is just the concept of Wawa being an east-coast thing, that makes me feel like I need to bring outsiders there. Anyway, the drive went smoothly. Arrived in Pittsburgh and got to spend a lovely evening with my friend Jane. Had tasty Asian food and then Rita’s (another first for Dave that had to happen since as most of you will know, I am obsessed with Rita’s). It was like cosmic destiny… they had fudge brownie, which is one of my favorite flavors. So my last Rita’s of the season was fudge brownie. Perfect. :) 

 

Chicago skyline

The Bean, with the skyline reflected in it

Left Pittsburgh early in the morning (coincided well with when Jane left for work) and headed toward Chicago. This was a longer day, but still not bad at all. Especially with two drivers. :) This day of travel was more exciting for me, since I was on a road I had never driven before. Normally I drive across the middle of Ohio and Indiana, but this time I was going across the northern part of both states. Also made a quick jaunt into Wisconsin, since it was only about 10 minutes extra travel, and meant I would get to go to a state I’ve never been to before! :D Made it to Chicago by late afternoon, so we had a few hours to explore, which was wonderful, since I have been told for years that I need to see Chicago. Still would like to spend more time there to really get a feel for the place, but just from the few hours I spent there, I did like it quite a lot. Definitely like it more than NYC, although that isn’t hard to do lol. It just seemed much calmer, and there is pretty water around, and I actually really liked the architecture quite a lot. Had dinner at an awesome cafe that had about a million things that sounded delicious (so many vegetarian options! Yay!) and then headed back to his friends’ place for the night. 

cool Chicago building at night

I left Chicago early in the morning to try and beat traffic. This was only semi-successful. Apparently there is just traffic in Chicago pretty much all the time. Still, it wasn’t too bad. Only the first hour or so was a bit traffic-filled, and then after that the trip went smoothly. I was amused to see that Illinois does not seem to have rest stops. Rather, they have oases. Much more schnazzy sounding. :) This last stretch of the trip was quite rainy, but other than that it wasn’t too bad. Arrived in Hawkeye without any trouble. Worked straight away for a few hours, and then got to move my stuff into the house. More on the house and the area in a later blog. :)