As the kids and I took a walk down our road to the lake, the intoxicating smell of sweet clover, vanilla mixed with fresh-cut hay, permeated the air. Late June in Minnesota is when the summer wildflowers awaken and adorn the sides of the roads, prairies, and edges of our 10,000+ lakes. On this particular day, my daughter started collecting wildflowers on the side of the road as we walked toward the lake. “Mom, I’m going to make you the most beautiful wildflower bouquet today.” As my daughter waded through the tall grass and wildflowers, she gathered: Black-eyed Susans, Prairie Fleabane, Tufted Vetch, Virginia Waterleaf, Yellow and White Sweet Clover, Ox-eye Daisies, Queen Anne’s Lace, and Red Clover. Once we arrived at the lake, my son picked an exquisite American White Water Lily, also known as the Fragrant Water Lily, to add to the bouquet. Before long we had a beautiful wildflower bouquet of all different colors, textures, and scents waiting to adorn our kitchen table. My family has been picking wildflowers along the roadside on our walks for year. One thing that always comes to mind, when reminiscing of these ventures, is the smell of sweet clover. In fact, my children have learned to identify sweet clover when it emerges from the soil in the early spring. First, there is excitement at finding the plant itself, but then a serious race ensues to see who can pick and smell the first sweet clover leaves of the year. There is nothing like the smell of sweet clover, especially on a warm summer day like today. Years ago, as a teenager, I remember helping my boyfriend (who is now my husband) with his summer lawn mowing jobs. There was this particular spot in a yard that smelled especially sweet every time we would mow. Determined to identify the plant, I would stop and search high and low for the plant that smelled so sweet. Finally I found a plant that appeared to be a type of clover (three finely-toothed leaflets). After my job, I remember going home and telling my mother about this clover plant that had the most wonderful smell. She said “Oh, sweet clover! That was your great-grandpa’s favorite smell as well.” Little did my mother know, that my great-grandfather had actually written a journal entry about his memories of clover. What I remember was that mother laid me in the shade at the edge of the field and cocked the hay as my father raked it. The smell of the Red Clover drying and the humming of the bees comes back vividly now as I write of this happening. ~Roy Falk My mother’s aunt (who typed up my great-grandfather, Roy Falk’s, journals) noted how incredible my great-grandfather’s memory must have been to remember incidents that happened before he could even sit up on his own. I was also surprised, but I know it’s not unheard of. In fact, I remember one incident that happened when I was a baby in a walker. I was at a family friend’s house, and as I was wheeling around, the dog who lived at that house accidentally pushed me down the stairs in my walker. I was amazingly unharmed, but the memory of tumbling down those stairs and being terrified is still sharp in my mind. The sweet smell of the Red Clover and the buzzing of the bees must have had quite an impact on Great-Grandpa for him to recall this memory so well. After reading Great-Grandpa’s journal entry, I was interested to see if there was a purpose of the clover being in the hay field. According the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), clover was brought over to the United States from Europe in the 1600’s. It was used as a forage crop (to feed livestock) and as a cover crop (where it is used to keep weeds down and enrich the soil). Clover plants have very long tap roots that extend several feet below the top soil. This tap root brings nutrients such as nitrogen up to the top soil, nourishing nearby shallow-rooted plants. I wish I could have been sitting next to the field with Great-Grandpa, listening to the bees and smelling the hay and clover as it dried in the fields. As I’m writing this, my husband and children are imploring me to accompany them on our daily walk. I think I’m ready to go out and smell the sweet clover again after sharing this story. I urge you to make your way outside and embark on a journey to look for some summer wildflowers. You may just come home with a beautiful bouquet, and if you’re lucky, you’ll catch the scent of vanilla and fresh-cut hay drifting the air.
Outside
Get Outside And Get Into Nature: Your Mind and Body Will Thank You
My son asked me last weekend, as we were all helping to put the dock in the lake up at the family cabin, “Mom, why does Brook [our dog], love being at the cabin so much?” I answered, “Well, I imagine she loves the cabin for many of the same reasons we love being here. The extended family comes up to visit [including all of the pups], everyone is always happy and relaxed, we spend our evenings fishing, roasting marshmallows over the fire, and playing games on the deck, we share great food, and we take long walks down the dirt road and through the woods.” Do you notice a common denominator here? Yes, most of our time is spent outside. When I think about our typical day at the cabin, we usually spend no more than two hours inside. An hour for breakfast and an hour or so before bed to watch the news and have a snack. The rest of the day we play outside, we talk outside, we eat outside, and we relax outside. Happiness! This is what we feel at the cabin. This is what we feel when we are outside. Unfortunately, many people aren’t getting outside these days. In fact, according the National Wildlife Federation, children are spending half as much time outdoors as they did 20 years ago. Today, children go from school to after-school activities or homework and adults go from working all day to taking care of their house/children. Increasing screen time takes away from potential outdoor time, limited green spaces in cities and suburbs can make it difficult for people to find space to enjoy the outdoors, and people are not making outdoor-time a priority in their busy lives. In an astounding new (2016) study by Persil, more than 12,000 parents of 5 to 12-year old children in 10 countries around the world (US, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, UK, US, and Vietnam) were surveyed and researchers found that children, on average, spend an hour or less of their day outside. Prisoners are allowed two hours of outdoor time each day. Our children are spending less time outside than prisoners! Persil put together an impactful video interviewing inmates about their feelings toward their outdoor time. Then, the video captured the inmates’ reactions when the interviewer told them that children around the world are getting an hour of outdoor time per day. See the two-minute video here: Free the Kids Limited outdoor time can have major consequences on not only physical health, but mental and emotional health as well. According to the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC), one in three adults and one in six children have obesity. Leading a sedentary lifestyle (too many hours sitting in school or daycare centers, no unstructured play time, too much screen time on TV, computers, and smartphones, etc.) is one of the main causes of obesity. Also, the CDC reports that the percentage of children with an ADHD diagnosis has continued to increase from 7.8% in 2003 to 9.5% in 2007 and to 11.0% in 2011. Similarly, a study by Mantejano et al. found that ADHD diagnoses in adults increased more than three-fold between 2002 and 2007. Is it a coincidence that as human beings decrease the time they spend outside, physical and mental illnesses increase? Research shows that many illnesses such as obesity and ADHD can be controlled and sometimes eradicated by one simple prescription, a free prescription: nature. Research shows that being outside: Boosts overall health5, 6, 10, 14 Decreases anxiety and depression8 Increases cognitive functioning4, 5 Increases creativity5 Increases happiness5 Increases self-awareness5 Increases self-esteem3, 5, 13 Increases the ability to focus, even in children with ADHD4, 5, 9, 13, 14 Increases energy levels11 Increases physical activity levels and decreases obesity levels5 Improves mood1, 2, 3, 14 Improves sleep12 Lowers blood pressure levels10 Is necessary for brain development7 Reduces stress1, 2, 3, 5, 14 Reduces aggression5, 14 Back to the cabin. The day the family went up to put the dock in the lake, my husband, my mother, my children, my nephew, Brook (our dog), and I went on a two-hour walk down the dirt road and through the woods. A two-hour walk that would normally take 20 minutes had we continued walking on the road. We collected Lake Superior agates on the dirt road, and we identified spring wild flowers poking up through the crispy leaves that had fallen last fall on the forest floor. My son found a fungi we had never observed before called Devil’s Urn (a cup-shaped black fungi that is surprisingly edible), the whole family found groves of ramps (a wild onion), and collected the leaves to bring home to prepare with dinner. The kids explored the hills and valleys throughout the woods, finding treasures like glass bottles, old flower pots, and frogs in shallow, muddy puddles. Meanwhile, the adults found an old log to sit on to discuss how wonderful it is to see the kids lost in nature. The kids were running, hopping, jumping, climbing, learning, exploring, and chatting away, oblivious to the fact that we were watching them with appreciation. Happiness all around. Make the time to get outside and get into nature. Your body and mind will thank you. Visit Get Outside often for new ideas on how to get outside and get into nature! References: Akers, A., Barton, J., Cossey, R., Gainsford, P., Griffin, M., Mikleright, D. (2012). Visual Color Perception in Green Exercise: Positive Effects on Mood and Perceived Exertion. Environmental Science and Technology. 46(16):8661-8666. Aspinall, P., Mavros, P., Coyne, R., Roe, J. (2012). The urban brain: analyzing outdoor physical activity with mobile EEG. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Barton, J., Pretty, J. (2010). What is the Best Dose of Nature and Green Exercise for Improving Mental Health? A Multi-Study Analysis. Environmental Science and Technology. 44: 3947-3955. Berman, M. G., Jonides, J., Kaplan, Stephen. (2008). The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature. Psychological Science. 19: 1207-1212. Children and Nature Network. (2012). Health Benefits to Children from contact with the Outdoor & Nature. 46