Earth Day Book Reviews

Camping under the stars, building stick forts, wadding through the creek, and fishing with Dad have been fond memories of my childhood. These memories inspired my career as an Environmental Educator for the past ten years. I work at an amazing nature center and was glad that I could continue to work part-time after my daughter was born almost 5 years ago. I have since had a son who was born 2 years ago. Keeping the Balance To help keep the balance between work-life and mom-life, I enrolled my daughter once a week in an in-home daycare. I met the “Hoot Nanny” through my job as she would frequently visit the Nature Center with her daycare kids. Alina was a genuine, happy person with a love for early environmental education and anything owls. She was a supporter of puddle-jumping, mud-pies, tea parties for squirrels and spiders, messy experiments, fairy gardens, and outdoor yoga. The “Hoot House” children either spent their day outside exploring (no matter the weather) They also visited local charities like animal shelters, food banks, and nursing homes. Alina and her father passed away on the same day in March due to influenza. Heartbroken doesn’t even begin to describe the feelings and I will always remember the day I had to look my daughter in the eyes and tell her that Alina was gone. It has been the first unexpected death that either one of us has had to experience. Needless to say, the month of March was very hard for me emotionally, and I had no desire for the next Hike It Baby 30 April Challenge. I’ve lost count of the number of challenges that I have completed, so skipping one would be okay with me. But then I saw the Hike It Baby “Owl Sticker” and something told me to sign up for the April Challenge. Alina’s memory is with me always and I guess that includes anything owl related as she was passionate about owls. Remembering a Loved One I stayed awake well past bedtime on a night in March, thinking of Hike It Baby and how I can remember Alina through my actions. I had that “ah-hah” moment and remembered that Alina scheduled weekly alphabet themed activities. For "N" week the kids would learn about Neighbors, Nocturnal Nurses, Number News, Noodles, and Nuts. My daughter’s favorite class was “P” for Pajamas while the children visited a llama farm. I was inspired to host alphabet letter themed hikes for Hike It Baby. During the month of April, I hosted more hikes than normally would fit in my schedule. But I’ve really enjoyed planning the alphabet theme and choosing a book that Alina enjoyed reading as well. During my “A for Alphabet” hike, I hid large foam letters on a short trail and read the book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Ironically during this hike, my family discovered an abandoned pair of toddler owl boots (making me think of Alina again). Occasionally I told a verbal story in place of reading a book. Alphabet Hike Options: "A is for Alphabet" - I hid large foam letters on a trail and read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom “B is for Beaver” – We visited a lake with a beaver lodge and read the book, Little Beaver and the Echo “M is for Maple Magic”- We visited a pancake breakfast at a Sugar Inn and hiked along a river. I retold a legend about a mouse who discovers maple sap and shares it with the Native Americans. “E is for Eggs and Explorers”- We stayed at a natural playground and experimented with different ways to use plastic eggs. There are many great books for this one, we like, First the Egg “D is for Dinosaur” – We hiked with our plastic dinosaurs until we reached a sandbox. Then we built a dinosaur village, complete with erupting volcanoes. “P is for Pajamas and Pinecones” – We wore our pajamas and explored a cluster of pine trees. Our book was Penguin and Pinecone “C is for Clouds and Chalk” – During our stroller walk, we looked for cloud shapes in the sky and used liquid chalk on the pavement to make cloud shapes. Our book was It looked like Spilt Milk “S is for Sticks, Stones and Sand” – Based off the book, Not a Stick, we hiked through the forest and used our imagination with sticks and stones. “F is for Fairies” – We dressed in fairy-type costumes, built fairy houses, and read The Mud Fairy “V is for Vernal” – We hiked to a vernal pond and scooped for pond creatures. Continuing the tradition I also have future plans to continue the alphabet hikes with all 26 letters. I hope to host a hike using the books, Uni the Unicorn (U is for Unicorn), Miss Spider’s Tea Party (T is for Tea Party), and Billy Goat Gruff (G is for Goats with a hike over bridges). I’d also would like to read a few poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends (another favorite of Alina’s). Of course nature hikes are filled with all sorts of fun alphabet letter themes and the list seems endless. My daughter has looked forward to the alphabet themed hikes and would ask every morning what the letter of the hike would be. During our hikes, we would often share memories of Miss Alina. I find myself asking, “What would Alina do,” with a lot of situations in my day, and now that includes ideas for hosting hikes. It feels great to serve a purpose with something I love and using a “before children” skill with environmental education. I have benefited greatly from Hike It Baby, and now I can add one more perk to this great organization…a way to honor the memory of a loved one. Do you have a book you like to read before a hike? Or one that would make a great alphabet themed hike? Share below.   

Wife. Mother. Naturalist.  Author.  Adventurer. Conservationist. Mardy Murie has been called the “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement.” Along with her husband, Olaus, she played a key role in preserving forever some of the country’s last wild places. Who is Mardy Murie? Margaret Elizabeth Thomas was born on August 18, 1902, in Seattle, Washington, to parents who divorced when she was young. Her mother remarried, and she spent much of her childhood in Fairbanks, Alaska, where her stepfather served as Assistant U.S. Attorney. She left Alaska to attend college in the lower 48, but met the love of her life on a trip home one summer. A neighbor introduced her to a young scientist for the U.S. Biological Survey studying caribou in Alaska. She married Olaus Murie on August 1924 at a 3 a.m. sunrise wedding ceremony in a log chapel on the banks of the Yukon River.  They left on their honeymoon the next day—a 6-month, 500-mile boat and dogsled caribou research trip through northern Alaska. Mardy quickly became a naturalist herself, and thereafter accompanied Olaus on his research trips, later bringing their three children along too. The Muries moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 1927 when Olaus was sent to study the dwindling elk herd. Olaus resigned from the Biological Survey in 1945 and became President of the Wilderness Society and Mardy served as Secretary. Their ranch soon became the unofficial headquarters of the Society, hosting board meetings, debates and discussions from the 1940s to the 1960s. Some consider their home the birthplace of the modern conservation movement. Olaus died in 1963, but Mardy continued the work they began together for four more decades. She wrote letters, attended hearings, testified before Congress and gave speeches on wilderness. She worked tirelessly until the end.  She died at home on October 19, 2003, at the age of 101. Accomplishments Olaus and Mardy were instrumental in the creation of Jackson Hole National Monument, and later Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. They personally led the movement to create the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska (1960), even leading the expedition of biologists in 1956 to gather data in support of the idea. The Muries played key roles in the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which, to date, has protected 110 million acres of land in pristine condition. The idea behind the act was birthed at the Murie Ranch. In 1975, Mardy was chosen to be part of a task force that traveled to Alaska to identify land to be included in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Her testimony was key to the passage of the act in 1980, which protected over 100 million acres of land in Alaska as national parks, national monuments, wild and scenic rivers, recreation areas, national wildlife refuges, and conservation areas. It is still considered the greatest preservation legislation in U.S. history. Mardy authored Two in the Far North (1962), Wapiti Wilderness (1966) and Island Between. Mardy received the Audubon Medal (1980), the John Muir Award (1983), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1998), and several honorary doctorates for her work. Love of Nature Mardy once said, “I think most of my philosophy could be expressed in a very few words that were found on an old tombstone in Cumberland, England. Olaus put them on a plaque hanging over our mantlepiece:  'The wonder of the world, the beauty and the power, the shapes of things, their colours, lights and shades—these I saw. Look ye also while life lasts.'" The beauty of Alaska and the mountains of Wyoming, her husband’s contagious passion for wildlife, the years spent living in a tent outdoors with her family in wilderness areas—these drew Mardy into a life of conservation.  For her, it began with love—of a place, of a man, of wilderness. QUICK FACTS Mardy was the first female graduate of the University of Alaska in 1924. The Muries were the inspiration for John Denver’s song “A Song for All Lovers” Mardy’s half-sister, Louise, married Olaus’ half-brother, Adolph, who was also a biologist. Olaus and Adolph pioneered the ecological approach to wildlife management on public lands still in use today–one that validates the role of predators in the ecosystem. The Muries' ranch is now part of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, and home to the Murie Center, an organization whose mission is to inspire rising conservation leaders. CONNECTING TO KIDS Want to share Mardy’s legacy with your kids? Here are several ways to do that. Read Mardy Murie Did! Grandmother of Conservation  by Jequita Potts McDaniel. Read Friends of the Earth: A History of American Environmentalism with 21 Activities for Kids by Pat McCarthy. There’s a fascinating chapter on Mardy Murie among other key conservationsists. Learn more about the areas preserved by the Wilderness Act by completing the NPS Wilderness Explorer: Junior Ranger Activities and Adventures for 8 and Up booklet. Visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge website to see photos of a place Mardy loved and fought to preserve