The green outdoors

I love Outside magazine. I love to pretend that I am outdoorsy. I'm not, I live in NJ and take walks around the paved pathway in the park a few blocks away at the intersection of two major roads in the town. It is a park that is a replica of a real park somewhere else. Not very scenic, not very backcountry. There is no backcountry in NJ.

This is a state where every town not only touches the next, but kinda intermingles with the next and borders are kinda fuzzy in some places. Not like out in the Pacific Northwest where towns can have 100 miles in between each other and there is such a thing as the Bureau of Land Management. There is no land to manage here, unless you consider developers trying to outbid each other over the next spot for a mini-mall or a smattering of McMansions.

Anyway, I love the idea of wide open spaces and public access (not $8 a day for beach access- CHRIST!). It is a dream of mine to be able to live somewhere that is pristine, natural and undeveloped.

Back to Outside mag- they inspire me because I believe there are lots of people out there who believe the same things I do. They don't want to buy an ugly house in a development, they are outraged by suburban sprawl, they don't want to buy a Christmas tree unless they know 10 new trees were planted in its wake.

In a recent email- I don't subscribe to the actual mag, it kills trees and I get the same info online- they introduced me to a couple of pro-kayakers who live in Colorado and hate the same things I hate. They saw a beautiful piece of land being bid for development of McMansions and totally taking away the public access to awesome white water and fun riverfront play areas. Instead of standing idly by and shaking their heads, they decided to do something about it. The two of them (brother and sister team), along with their dad's cash flow (the bane of an environmental enthusiast is you always need to find some conservative white collar guy to back up the dream) decide to outbid everyone and preserve the property for the greater good. Hooray! Score one for the little guy.

Now, I'd just like to say, I don't kayak. I am the world's most uncoordinated person and I have low blood pressure and get dizzy when I get too much exercise, nonetheless- I still appreciate nature and have the dream of hiking and climbing and rafting with the best of them.

I also do not pretend to be the most environmentally conscious person- I'm an armchair environmentalist and I will probably never really help any legislation go through to make changes for the country. But I have lots of aspirations and I really do think every little bit helps. So remember to recycle, don't leave the water running when you brush your teeth and turn off the light when you leave the room. Every little bit helps.