(un)Spoken Word

Well, I got started on a thread of thought and language this morning and then thought “hey, wait a minute: this might do for someplace other than that blog.” And not wanting to be guilty (or at least blamed) by other local bloggers (no names named) for regurgitating blog-cud for print uses, I’ve decided to let that little ramble ferment offline for a while.

So suffice it to leave you with a quote about our nature-alienated youth:

“These kids are becoming so acculturated to very fancy devices that do 50 things at one time that they can’t grasp how going out into nature and just looking or relaxing can be rewarding,” said Kevin Truitt, the principal of San Francisco’s Mission High School. “To go on a hike, to participate in nature, to just look at the beauty is foreign to them.”

Things seem to be moving along with such thoughts and book two took a large leap forward yesterday, perhaps, in connecting with a Floydian with an eye and the skills I need for page layout and book design! Yip!

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fred
fred

Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

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  1. and to take it a little further, i think not only chidren are detached, but adults are, too. adults that grew up in nature, but now are so distracted by all the ‘virtual’ gadgetry as you say.

    i so hope to strike a good balance in our home…

  2. Parents … that’s who we are to blame. I count it a great accomplishment of my parenting that I have a 7th grader who will take a book and go climb a tree and sit and read or take his journal and write about what he sees and experiences in nature.

  3. Now what lowlife other bloggers would accuse you of recycling blog posts into newspaper columns? Shame of them!

    You’re looking at one of the primary reasons the Blue Ridge Parkway cites for their dramatic drop in traffic in recent years: Kids don’t want to take long, leisurely drives through scenic country and they certainly don’t want to abandon their in-car DVD screens and portable game devices long enough to actually take a walk and commune with nature.

  4. Yes it is those young kids that you speak of Doug, who miss so much. What a shame for them!

    I can’t wait to get back and do just that again, after being away for so many years. Take a long, leisurely drive through many scenic areas like Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, etc.! I plan to spend a lot of time on long leisurely drives. Thanks for bringing back those memories!