My eyes flutter open as the sun light travels through the curtains, hitting my face with a warm sensation. My sister, brother and I all rush to get ready and before you know it, one by one we exit through our back door, into the outside world. The breeze flows through our hair, the birds are chirping, our feet brush through the grass, this is life.

We unlock the white gate and join our neighbors, excited for the days adventure, it is only 9am on a summer morning and the world is ours, with two connected yards the adventures are endless. We play baseball, slide in the dirt and not care how dirty we get, the white butterfly’s which fly toward the blossoming flowers distract us. We observe the creatures that lurk around our yards, collect bugs, help a bird with a broken wing as well as say our farewells to our dead fish by burying him into the earths soil. As kids our imagination drove us crazy, we had powers or sometimes we were invisible. But my favorite part of the backyard was my circle swing, attached to our tree, I’d swing and use my feet to bounce off the trees trunk. I’d look up into the peach filled tree filled and stare beyond, into a deep blue sea then I’d spin around and around my feet racing in circles on the pavement. I took in the scenery then stop, close my eyes and let go, my feet free in the air, spinning forever, like my childhood was eternal, but of course it eventually ended.

I remember spending all day outside, every chance I could as a child, on blazing hot days or crazy snow days. Now as a teen I spend most of my time indoors on my laptop. Once I was inside all day, then my mother directed me to get the mail, therefore I did, those minutes outside I instantly felt amazing, better, like I could stay out there forever! I saw children running and laughing, I then ran home and asked my siblings if they’d like to spend the day just hanging out outside, but they, glued to their electronics, refused. Though I didn’t give up, I decided I would try another day.

Just yesterday my sister and I went onto a trail across our street that we've never known existed, no one seemed to be on it, and we had an outrageous adventure! We ran, sat in the middle of canyons, lurked through unmarked paths, stumbled upon an abandoned park containing a basketball hoop, and importantly we discovered nature, again. We promised of course to go back, and we will.

Overall I feel that nature connects people to each other, teenagers seem to spend most time indoors but trust me once outside they’ll remember what nature is all about. It is something so extraordinary, I can’t know how to explain it, but I can say that everyone must experience it, everyday of their lives.