Getting 'em outdoors. You can't start early enough.

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, is coming to Charlotte on October 14 to discuss a pressing crisis with our children. Louv won’t be discussing classroom size or health care but he will be discussing something of critical importance – getting our children out of the house and into the great outdoors.

When I was a young kid my family lived in a very rural setting. We had large fields surrounding our house, forest ran up to the very edge of our backyard, and several creeks cut through the landscape.

I didn’t particularly enjoy television so I spent much of each day running through my surroundings pretending to be one thing or another.

Sometimes I would come home with muddy jeans due to jumping into the creek below my house.

Sometimes my parents would have to ring this bell that they had put up beside our porch to let me know it was dinner time.

But I always, always, always had fun.

In an era of suburbs, tract homes, and sprawl this kind of experience is rapidly disappearing. The X-Box (however fun it might be) does not offer the same experience. Second Life is not the same as real life. We have to impress upon people the importance of getting outside, as well as the enjoyment of getting out there in the first place.

Hopefully this talk by Richard Louv will go a long way towards getting some excitement around the idea of getting people into the out of doors.

The event will be held in the Band Shell at Freedom Park at noon on October 14.