Getting Outside & the Other Global Crisis

                           Salmon River June 1019

I heard this morning that sales of outdoor sporting equipment such as bicycles and kayaks is so strong this year that its a challenge to find it anywhere.  It seems that in our adjustment to the restrictions of COVID-19 we have shifted from in-store "retail therapy" to  physical activity and  outdoor "nature therapy." Obviously there is still a consumer component to this, but I've also seen that people are hauling bicycles out of storage to get outside, and lots more are going for walks, whether on urban trails or in the woods. Provincial parks are also seeing a boom this season, and both rentals and purchases of the dreaded RV are up.

We are avid outdoors folk, for care of body, mind, and spirit. When the pandemic changed everyone's lives back in March we carefully observed guidelines about contact with other persons but we live in an area where we can be in the natural world without much interaction with others . We are early birds so we get out when others are still in the land of nod. We are often on the water by 7:30 or 8:00 and this is an excellent form of physical distancing. We canoed a lot, beginning late in March, and are now kayaking more. We figure we've been paddling about 30 times this season and there are still several months before us. 

I wonder if this increase in outdoor exploration will make people more mindful of the other global crisis concerning climate. Our planet is changing for the worse because of human activity, and July was the hottest in more than 80 years in Southern Ontario. Strangely, this was the month when we felt most restricted and it was because of the heat. 

I celebrate that God's creatures, humans, are outside because it is a marvelous, diverse world which deserves our attention. And I hope that awe and wonder will lead to a change of heart and mind for us as individuals and as well as the governments we elect. 

Trent River, Lock 4, with son Isaac & the grandlads