Our 3-year-old daughter has a very special life. I say that because the facts show that children who play outdoors have healthier, happier lives, and we apply that truth to her lifestyle. Our daughter knows what the rain feels like on her face. She knows how a caterpillar tickles as it crawls on her hand. She knows that trees have roots which go deep into the soil, and that lawns have thistles which can get stuck into little bare feet. She has watched birds in flight and has marveled at their joyous sounds. She plays with sticks and rocks, grass and sand, mud and worms.

Not all children are as lucky as our little girl. Many children don't have adequate opportunities to physically experience the world of nature they live in. However, there's a movement, which began gaining momentum around 2005, which aims at reconnecting children with the fundamentals of a natural world which their parents and grandparents knew so well.

The Leave No Child Inside movement is gaining new exposure, revelation and respect. It recognizes the fact that we are natural beings, and that we all need to remain mentally and physically connected to our natural world. Author Richard Louv, provided national exposure to the concept with his immensely popular book, Last Child in the Woods. It was he who originated the term: Nature Deficit Disorder.

When John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, wildlife lovers cringed for two reasons. The first is that she seems like just the kind of smart, young leader who has battled corruption and government waste that could get not so environmentally friendly Republicans elected. The second is that Palin herself has been on the side of hunters instead of wildlife watchers--even when the fiscal numbers are not on hunting's side.

Palin--in addition to vowing to sue to stop the listing Polar Bears as an endangered species--has put the weight of the state behind defeating a ballot measure that would have limited the aerial shooting of wolves. Nationwide aerial hunting has been banned since 1972's Airborne Hunting Act, but Alaska gets around that by saying the hunters are working for the state to control predators. The idea is to produce more moose and caribou to hunt.

The Alaska Fish and Game Department has been allowing aerial wolf hunting--even though voters said no to it twice--for since 2003. (The legislature later overturned the voters' decision.) But this time Alaskans voted 92,781 to 74,124 to allow it.

The Daily Deal for Sunday, July 6, 2008

Camping season is in full swing, and that always gets my blood up for looking at the newest and best camping gear available. Although I don't tent camp any more, there was a time when I did pitch a tent in the woods at least once every camping season. There's just nothing which compares to tent camping. I've always liked to think that we tent campers are a special breed of outdoors people.

I recently ran across a gem of a deal on the Coleman 3-room Weathermaster tent. The good folks over at Campmor.com are offering this awesome cabin type tent for just $159.97 plus a shipping charge as low as $6.95. This great tent, which is able to sleep up to 8 adults, normally retails for $230. You can use the included hanging dividers to separate the interior of the tent into three rooms, and the tent comes factory prepared for inclement weather.

Large, light, and tight, is the way I describe a tent such as this. If you're in the market for a family camping tent which won't bust your budget, this is a great place to start. If you do find that this tent will fulfill your tent camping needs, might I also recommend that you purchase the ground moisture barrier and get yourself some extra metal tent stakes also. The moisture barrier will help to reduce the clammy feeling that can develop within a tent, and the metal tent stakes always worked better for me in a greater variety of soils and situations.

It's time to get yourself outfitted and get into the woods. There is much to do and learn in the great outdoors. Even if you just use it as an opportunity to "escape" from the daily grind for just a little while, I promise you that tent camping will give you a different perspective on the world. It's a perspective that most people, unfortunately, miss out on.