Our new President

My son is not yet one year old, however, he has already felt the cold chill of a winter morning on his face, seen ducks fly over his head, deer feed in fields, dogs retreive game and sat in a field of wild paper whites with his cousins. My son will know the outdoors. He will understand the beauty that is all around him and the peace and understanding it can bring.

The last time we were in at Bollingbrook these thoughts ran through my head the entire weekend, How can it be that the man who is going to lead our country barely knows it. Yes, he knows the problems, and the opportunities and exist in our citites. Does he know the wonders that exist in our country's wild places? I don't think so. I do know that for the first time in a long time, and maybe ever, we have a president who is not a sportsman, not an outdoorsman. He does not fish, ride, hunt, walk in the woods or do any of the things that bring so much meaning to me and many of the people I know.

I am in no way against our new President, I wish him great success, we all need a great leader at this point in our history. But, I also believe that part of the American spirit lives in its wild places, and to not know those places is to not know all of America.