Nature Traditions and the Holidays...

As we enter the busy holiday season, our goal this year is to add nature back into people’s overflowing calendars by inviting them to join us in some of our family traditions. We all know the calming effect nature tends to have on us, yet we often get too busy this time of year to take advantage of the free therapy right outside our doors. By making something a tradition, a ritual, or an “annual” event for your family nature club, members and friends are invited to begin new traditions of their own...

 This Thanksgiving, our family will pack up the SUV and head out for our traditional week-long camping trip. We usually invite a friend or two to join us (last year we froze in Joshua Tree National Park), but this year we extended the invitation to our club, Family Adventures in Nature. While only a few will likely be able to join us (alas, so many traditions to compete with at Thanksgiving!), many have already signed up to join us for day-hikes too! I say we turn “Black Friday” into “Green Friday” and avoid the malls that day altogether.
 For Christmas, we always take a family hike, usually in the afternoon on Christmas Day, adding our own little outdoor twist to a traditionally indoor holiday. Also a good reminder about what we value most on a day that seems to be overtaken by materialism. That is a ritual we’ve decided to keep in the family, but in our weekly newsletter, I’ll invite people to consider starting their own traditions and sharing what they do with others as inspiration. Those who celebrate something other than Christmas? I'd love to know how nature plays a role in their traditions too!
Another tradition we started two years ago with our club is our Annual New Year’s Day hike. We don’t start this one too early for obvious reasons, and we visit the same open space reserve each year. This will be our third hike there on New Year’s Day, and we can’t wait to see how things have changed, yet remained the same.

So why am I writing all this here? I’m wondering about what “nature” traditions you have this time of year. Do you get out and about with your family to enjoy the crisp fall air? Would you consider widening the circle and inviting your club to join some of your family nature rituals at this time of year? I’d like to invite you and your club to join us for an Annual New Year’s Day Hike, from afar, wherever you are. I wonder how many clubs and members we can get out that day? While we’re hiking through chaparral, enjoying lunch on the boulders, will your club be traipsing through the snow or having a muddy play day or…? Will you start a new tradition with us?