I grew up roaming my neighborhood in San Antonio, TX which had some open fields and a creek nearby. My buddies and I caught crawdads and played in the creeks and ditches and got in a ton of trouble.
We had these clunky electronic devices that you could play football or baseball on... sort of. They were basically a series of LCD dots and lines that represented players. Very rudimentary. But, this was a step up from molded plastic player dancing around a loud vibrating piece of sheet metal that was painted like a football field. Electronic games and devices were in their infancy.
The older I got, the more I roamed. The alleys behind our home were a battlefield of sorts where we built clubhouses and forts against the neighbor's fences with whatever we could find. When someone trimmed their trees, we lived in the brush piles for a week or two before they got hauled away.
My 11 year old son loves to hear these stories. It's no wonder that he seems to be enamored with these events. Now, we live in a subdivision on a cul-de-sac probably a 1/4 mile from a major highway. We never let them play outside on their own until they were about 8-10 years old. There were very few kids living in the neighborhood at the time either. Like many other parents during this day and age, we were weary of allowing our kids to roam the neighborhood. There is a small greenbelt next to our neighborhood that I know for a fact is inhabited by homeless people. We have heard of strange cars parking near the ditches and older kids heading back there for what I'm sure amounts to nefarious reasons at best.
Recently, we have had an influx of kids their age move into the neighborhood and they have started doing some of the things that I did as a kid (probably to the dismay of the neighbors). It was very difficult to resist the temptation of putting them in front of the TV or getting them computers or iPads or iPods or any number of other devices. We finally broke down and bought a Wii a few years ago, but for the most part, our kids have grown up outdoors. Whether it was playing at the park, team sports, hunting, fishing, boating, or riding our bikes; I made it a point to get them outside and move. Even in inclement weather they have fun outdoors!The other day, I overheard a conversation at football practice about kids not wanting to get outside or put down the electronics. This is what 46 Outdoors is about at it's core. Even my kids, who weren't involved in all that, but now have phones and tablets and need to use computers to do homework find it hard to put them down at times.
I went to Camp Stewart on the Guadalupe River headwaters where I rode horses, climbed the NRA Riflery rankings, learned to canoe, shot my bow, hiked, camped out, swam and a host of other activities including team sports clinics. I loved it! If memory serves, the camp session was 34 days... 34 days of all those activities and more... I was in heaven! It was tough being away from my parents for that long, but it was well worth it. I wouldn't change a minute of it.
I would love to send my kids to that camp or one like it, but truth be told, we can't afford it especially for three kids. In fact, my parents had help in sending me. But, I know the boys would love it, and probably benefit and grow a little independence. So, with that being out of the realm of possibility, we are left with the task of teaching these lessons and giving them this experience on our own.
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