Sometimes I forget that there are places without access to nature in the abundance we enjoy in the Midwest. The ability to get into nature in a few minutes is one of the many things that attracted me to southern Wisconsin.
I was reminded of this last month when I visited New York City to see my daughter, a tree-hugging nature-loving dirt scientist who teaches special education in the fifth largest population center in the world. Over 23,000,000 people live within an hour of the apartment where I am writing these words.
We’re on an island, about 23 square miles, bounded by a river and two estuaries, and with no natural lakes or ponds. The Hudson, East and Harlem Rivers are the only water available to paddlers, and much of that is inaccessible because of breakwaters and seawalls. There’s almost no way to actually touch the water.
Five days without water.