definearth

Once upon a time I was adventurous. In elementary school, I wanted to do more with my summer break than doing mandatory reading and hiding out to escape chores. I picked out a book from the library on fun things to do during my time off and tried them all out, from running a lemonade stand to urban exploring. My first lemonade stand made twenty-three dollars and I was rich. As I got older, the adventuring dwindled. I went from selling lemonade to working at a desk with a fantastic window view of the side of a brick building.

As adults I think we tend to lose creativity in the sense that we interpret summer only as a time to purchase spray tans and sit on the beach. Now, the beach isn’t a terrible place to be. Going to the beach, touring an amusement park, and walking around the zoo are all tremendously fun summer activities that require a certain amount of organization- and occasionally- money. So what are some ways to enjoy the rare appearance of the sun (especially in New York or the UK) without much effort?

Let’s start with the easy one: Going outside. While we don’t all have nature preserves in our backyard, if you can round up some friends or family to take a trip to the park or somewhere similar, it’s usually free and can offer other fun things like hiking or bird watching as well. At Times Beach there’s an outlook made specifically for the purpose of bird watching. The wildlife here is very active with woodland species such as avians, turtles, and of course deer. In fact, Niagara River is a busy flyway for birds who travel from North to South on a seasonal basis. People who participate in the bird watching hobby come with lists full of all kinds of birds that either reside here or migrate through this area. People use this opportunity to check off some species like Bonaparte gulls or the red winged blackbird from their list.

The taxidermy inside the lodge at Tifft Nature Preserve made me think of the movie Get Out…Creepy! So now here’s where my suggestions get a little boring. Skateboarding and biking are things some people might do everyday, so they aren’t that exciting in the world of outdoor activities. However, you can see some really awesome sunsets when you’re out surfing the cement. Don’t go too fast though or you’ll probably just see a blur. And then, cement up close. Very close.

When you’re thinking about things to do outside, get creative. Arrange bricks to make a path through your garden. Practice your instrument outside (the acoustics are way better, plus the birds love it). Bring out your boom-box and have a dance competition with the neighbor kids (Do those exist anymore?). Practice yoga. Jump rope. The list goes on…

Hope you enjoyed my post! Comment and let me know what you like to do outdoors 🙂 Thanks for reading, Jess