Montana Years

I have a new article up at The Outdoor Parent

When I was three, my family moved to Montana to start a business and ended up with next to nothing. There were times where all we could afford for groceries was milk, eggs, flour and sugar. My mom made donuts and my brother and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I still love donuts. We lived in a sixteen-foot-long travel trailer parked inside a shop building, rode hand-me-down bikes, and didn’t even own a TV (wait, we did have a 5-inch black and white). My brother and I thought we had everything....

Read the rest here at The Outdoor Parent

The Outdoor Parent

Today I am happy to announce the launch on a new website that I have the pleasure to be involved in in a small way. The Outdoor Parent was the idea of Fitz Cahall of the Dirtbag Diaries, where those who've been reading the Dirtbag Dad Diaries know allowed me to shamelessly use and alter the name for this site.

The Outdoor Parent is in our own words...

The Outdoor Parent is a collection of surfers, climbers and skiers who have embarked the greatest adventure -- parenthood -- and lived to tell about it. Stories, perspective and reflections on parenting, children and the outdoor lifestyle.

I'm am going to be a contributing writer on the site, as well as Steve Bohrer, and other fathers and mothers of like mind who are doing what we can to raise our children with a love of, and respect for, the natural world and all life has to offer outside of our "modern" bubbles.

Foto Friday

Photo-Stoner (found here)

Foto... Saturday?

Sorry, I was out of town yesterday...


Photo- Ryan Tatar

Walkabout

Not exactly a hike, but just getting out for a walk around the neighborhood with Levi feels good, like I'm doing something right to get him outside. Just throw him in the carrier and go. He seems to like it as no matter how cold it is he is quiet and just soaks everything around him up the entire time. Ehow.com has this list for the question "How to Get Kids Outside?"...

Step1

Set up a swing set or play equipment for younger children.

Step2

Put up a basketball goal, volleyball net or skate ramp for older children. Kids will be more likely to go outside if they can engage in an activity they enjoy.

Step3

Take family bicycle rides or walks together. Encourage outdoor activities by setting a good example.

Step4

Plan a scavenger hunt for your children and their friends. Send them around the neighborhood looking for various outdoor things.

Step5

Sign your kids up for a camp where they can explore the outdoors and participate in outside activities. This introduction may foster an appreciation for being outside.

Step6

Limit the amount of time they are allowed to spend watching television or playing video games. Without these distractions, they will want to get outside to play.

I've decided to simplify it for people like me with short attention spans. Here's my list...

Step1. Turn off the TV and go outside.

That's it. Not, send the kids outside, go outside yourself. I'm going to be making a conscious effort to habitually be outside. Working in the yard, playing walking anything, just being a family that gets out of the house and having children outside from an early age will make a world of difference 5, 10, and 20 years from now.

Surfin'

This last Thursday was a surf day for the family. My brother and his family moved to San Diego so we went that direction. Stopped off in North SD and were pleasantly surprised as the reports were not very optimistic. Its been a long time for me so the small, semi-clean conditions were good for a paddle out. I did end up re-aggravating my shoulder that I sprained several years ago. Goes to show I need to get it in the water more to keep loose. Needless to say it felt great to be in the water, and beyond that, there's something even more satisfying now that my family is here with me.

Before Laura and I had Levi around, I almost invariably surfed alone. I'd go at dawn before work, or I'd spend the working day at San Onofre on my days off, leaving around noon to meet Laura at her work for lunch. Now, I don't get out so much, though I would love to get out early in the morning. Now that we live close enough to the beach I can get up for a dawn patrol, then come home for a morning with the family before work, yet I haven't taken advantage of that yet. Work is taking up to much of my time lately, its hard to justify any free time spent away form my family. 60+ hour work weeks can be harmful to a young family so I try to commit every second available to spending time with the family. Hopefully in the near future work will allow me fewer hours and I'll be able to get out in the water more.

Now, there is a trade-off, those serious surfers, climbers, skiers, bikers etc, know that participating in our chosen lifestyle (I don't call them "sports", and they're not mere hobbies for most) when we don't get that psychological, emotional, and physical re-fuel of getting out there regularly, our mental state tends to suffer. Using myself for example, when I'm out in the water on a regular basis, I'm more even-tempered, I feel better physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Its our personal recharge, a way to clear out all the mental garbage we accumulate in the modern world we live in.

I've discovered though, that as I focus on appreciating the incredible family I've been blessed with, my being in the water, or going snowboarding (that used to be my main passion for years) doesn't take precedence as my family trumps everything. Now, its important to have time to yourself, and believe me, if I had time, I'd be in the water ever single day there were waves! The point is is that in this spot I'm in I'm not willing to to sacrifice my family time for anything. I have a beautiful wife and awesome son that I don't spend nearly enough time with, and whatever "sacrifice" I'm making by not being in the water as much is of little account in the bigger picture. Not only that, but the times I do get out to the beach with my family are absolutely more rewarding than just being by myself. There's nothing like kicking out of a wave and looking at the beach to see your wife and baby boy watching and waving.

Foto Friday 2/6/09

photo-maassen

Foto Friday 1/30/09

Foto Friday 1/23/09

Photo- Bruce Kirkby

Beach Day

Went to the beach with the family today to have a surf. They played on the beach while I played in the water. Its been a long while due to work and the new baby; felt great to be back in the water. I did find out the Levi does NOT like 55 degree water, dipped his toes in and he just about exploded! Maybe the Hawaiian part in his blood longs for the warm tropical waters of his native homeland...

Foto Friday 1/16/09

Photo - ?

I Need to Loosen Up

A few days ago Laura (my wife), Levi and I were driving down the road past one of the few empty lots on Southern California and were shocked to see a group of kids playing on the hillside there. My immediate reaction was surprise at being shocked! I'm an outdoorzy rough-and-tumble kinda guy, not overprotective at all right? After thinking about it, I realized I cannot remember the last time I saw children playing outdoors, short of skating down the street towards the Etnies skatepark. Part of my reaction I'm sure was because of that, but what I noticed most is the fact that my first thought was "Is the hillside safe for kids to play on?"

If you've read any previous posts you may remember this one talking about parents limiting their kids activities like tag because they might get hurt being physical. I obviously look down on this attitude and was taken aback by my own proclivity to react in a similar way to those over-protective parents. I rant and rave about kids not being allowed to act like kids, yet when I see that my first reaction is exactly what I don't want it to be?

I'll choose to ignore my hypocrisy and instead focus on how society did this to me, thus removing any personal responsibility from the equation. Living in the concrete-covered land of opportunity and wealth that is Orange County California, it's now the norm for kids to spend their non-school time in the comfort of their rooms as they all have their own computers, tv, Playstation, X-Box, Wii, etc etc. After a while we just expect that and lower our own school of thought to the societal norms (kind of like many other aspects of American life). Instead of seeing something detrimental and wanting to change it, we gradually accept it in a "when in Rome..." attitude. As a new father I'm trying my best to re-learn and focus on what experiences my son will be able to look back on when he's older, and what shapes his personal ethic, what he sees and reads about on a computer screen, or what he experiences with his own senses?

I want my son to grow up knowing what the world is like outside the front door. Whether its in the local mountains or on the local beaches, or China, Australia, or Iceland. There is a slim chance of that happening if I'm going to get all wobbly-legged at the sight of him playing on a hillside. That's where most of us are. We all could use some loosening up.