A child's time in nature is truely a remarkable experience to witness. It is always a joy and even an eye opener to watch a child explore and adventure in the great outdoors.

This last summer I drove to California to pick up my godson and bring him to my home in Oregon for the summer. He is 10 years old, full of anticipated energy and is at a very impressionable age .
Now, the difference for him living in California and coming here to Oregon for the summer was something that I imagine gave this little boy a gift always to remember. In California he lives in an apartment surrounded by many more apartments and condominiums. He was not allowed to stray too far from his apartment due to unsafe risk from human congestion and violent situations.
To add on to his limitation he was diagnosed by his teacher and child psycologist of having Attention deficit disorder and depression. His doctor says he is having migraines and his mother says he has strong outdoor allergies. So with all of these diagnoses, he is on several different medications.
His Physical Education instructor says he has trouble with his fine motor skills and is behind his own age level in sports.

""Is it possible that this child is feeling pretty bad about himself? That is saying it lightly!""

Both the psycologist and his mother requested for his stay in Oregon with me. Of course I wouldn't have it any other way. But, I did ask that they turn him over to me as his temporary legal gardian, with the power to make decisions in his best interest.

I live in a very beautiful location in the Siuslaw National Forest with the Siuslaw river that runs 300 ft from my front porch. Every direction we look is a natural environmental beauty. Wildlife is abundant here. And the Oregon Coast is only 19 miles west of us.

At the time, I was a supervisor for a small crew of teens that I instructed and led in conservation & restoration projects for our environment. I was only a few days from ending the season projects, which temporarily demanded me away from my godson. So for a short time, he spent afternoons at the Boys & Girls Club.

I noticed for the first two days when I would pick him up from the B&G club, he was withdrawn and very sad. I asked what was troubling him. That's when he shared that he could not think quick and does not have very much energy. I asked if he thought maybe the medications he was taking might be causing him to feel this way. He anxiously said,"I know that it is the medicine making me feel this bad!" Well that was all it took for me to take action in slowly weaning him off his meds. Within two days, he started feeling the changes for the better. He was completely off of everything after a week .

As soon as I ended my seasonal job, I took a couple of months off. Everyday was an adventure for us. We hit all of my favorite trailheads for hikes. Up and down the coast and all through the forests we hiked. I have two large labrador retrievers that went with us on all our hikes.
We witnessed many diverse wildlife. The Ospreys and Eagles would fly up & down the river looking for their meals in front of our house.

My godson learned how to use tools for building, he mowed part of our lawn and helped weedeat & trim branches off trees that are ready to give way.
He had gained much education about our eco-system and how important it is to not just kill bugs & reptiles because of fear or just down right meaness. He learned about the importance of top soil, Native plants verses Noxious & Invasives.

I tested my godson in everyway I could to see if he had attention deficit disorder or physical development problems by testing his catching, throwing, running, hopping and using his hand coordination skills, he was as normal as any average child his age.
Truth be known, "A negative impression was set upon him in the congested town he lives in. Unhappiness is revealed in those all around this little boy, so much that they had looked into him as a mental, physical, spiritual and unhealthy child".

Blending this little boy with ~Mother Earth~ in such a natural way was medicine beyond the capabilities of mankind's understanding.

I brought my godson home as a different child and shared with his mother, along with his psycologist, all that we did here in Oregon. I explained that when you confine a child to such a small world and he acts in accordance to his environment, pills and false diagnoses are not the answer.
I left his mom with a strong message, "Take your child out for hikes and talk with him, listen to him and listen to nature calling your spirit".