Fear!

Deer ticks, lyme disease, poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, dirt, biting flies, mosquitoes, sinkholes, caves, bats, bear traps, mountain lions, prickly plants, hunters, the cold, frostbite, falls, blisters, and nervous parents. I could go on, but I won't. There's a lot of danger out there. There's a lot of fear. For some reason, it's not scary to travel 65 mph in a car down a highway, but it is scary to enter the foreboding woods. Remember the Blair Witch Project? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention witches and ghosts as well. These images are ever present in our minds, and in the minds of nervous parents. Before I take kids to the Everglades I meet with the parents. I'm completely honest about the dangers. I tell them we'll encounter alligators, crocodiles, poisonwood, poisonous snakes, stinging jellyfish, (the plane trip down!), and more. It helps that I've taken this trip 12 times now, but I know parents are still nervous. Sometimes I'm surprised that parents will even let their kids go on the trip. Maybe deep down they understand the importance of seeing rare places. Maybe they know this experience could be life changing. I hope so. We've vilified nature in nursery rhymes, novels, and the media. It's time we reclaim nature as a place we learn and grow rather than a place to be feared.