I've been fighting sickness all week - reading about detoxes and watching the skies unload every form of precipitation imaginable. The wind shook the old Walnut in our back yard to the point that canopy branches taller than I am were falling. Today, I finally gave in to illness and have spent the morning in and out of sleep, reading Richard Louv's "Last Child in the Woods" and dreaming about the day the sun finally peeks out and we collect those branches, wrap them in yarn and create a forest in the living room. Spring time ants and tiny rubber polar bears will populate our new wilderness and Holden won't have to suffer from missing the views from treetops or smelling air populated with the resolve of pollen and lichen, not SUVs and steel foundries. Each time the wind blows our forest will grow a new yarn cocooned tree, and before long hikers lives will be lost and Pendleton will model a blanket for us. Take that "Nature Deficit Disorder."
Thanks to Kristen for sending me the following, more articulate piece:

Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.