(Crew of the Endurance, 1915)

At Adventure In, Adventure Out, we’re always looking for new ways to inspire ourselves as well as all the wonderful clients and participants we work with. So, with that in mind, I’d like to share this article from Forbes, 16 Leadership Quotes To Inspire You To Greatness.

And, just for fun, I’m going to pick a quote from this article for each of AIAO’s current core staff members.

For James, our Founder and Director:
“The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good [people] to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” -Theodore Roosevelt

For Ben, our Assistant Director:
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

For Pandora, our Director of Staff and Program Development:
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” – Warren Bennis

And for myself:
“To lead people, walk behind them.” – Lao Tzu

Visit one of my favorite websites, Wikiquote, for more leadership quotes.

And be sure to visit our website to learn more about our transformative leadership development programs for both schools and businesses.

Despite the stormy weather today, spring has arrived, and along with the warm and sunny weather comes some less welcome members of the biotic community: ticks.

While I was up at Noble View in Russell, MA this last weekend with some AIAO staff and other outdoorsy types re-certifying in wilderness first aid, one of my fellow classmates found a tick on her arm. And, just like that, I went from blissful winter mode to vigilant tick-check mode.

You see, I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease a couple of years ago, and I can tell you from first hand experience that it’s no fun. And Lyme is not the only tick-borne illness to be concerned about; there are many others.

This is my reminder to you: it’s time to reinstate our regular warm weather precautions to prevent tick bites. Light colored clothing, long pants and shirt sleeves, tucking pants into long socks, using various bug repellants, avoiding tall grasses, and tick-checks are all good things to consider. But education trumps them all.

Check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tick information page

The University of Massachusetts also offers, for a fee, ttick-pathogentesting. You can visit their website for more information. You can also visit the CDC’s site for more information on the efficacy of these tests.

Gratuitous infographics:

This past weekend I had the good fortune to spend a couple of nights in a small cabin at Temenos in Shutesbury, MA with my incomparable wife. A “rustic retreat center, located on Mount Mineral, about a half hour northeast of Amherst, Massachusetts,” Temenos is comprised of a cluster of cabins, a pump well, and lots and lots of woods. Put another way, there’s no electricity, wi-fi, computers, phones, or television; you’re seriously unplugged.

Not surprisingly, without many of the things that tend to divert our energy and attention, this lent itself to a deeper level of connection and communication. Our weekend was lovely, and I can’t recommend Temenos more highly.

I wasn’t surprised, then, when I read on NPR’s blog this morning about the August First Bakery & Cafe in Burlington, VT, a small eatery which has chosen to ban all large screens (lap-tops, and presumably tablets) from its tables and booths. Originally inspired by fiscal realities, the cafe’s owner Jodi Whalen also acknowledged the social impact they were having: “To walk into a place and see people looking at their screens with a blank stare, it takes away…the community aspect of it — of you being in a place with other people.” How true!

So, consider this a plug for unplugging: take some tech-free time with some friends and/or loved ones, play a favorite board game, turn off your computer and phone a little earlier tonight and sit with a good book, or even commit to limiting your tech-time each day. I guarantee you’ll appreciate the difference.

Happy trails!

Many folks in the outdoor and environmental education fields can relate to Mark Hickman: “As a young man, I wanted to be the guy [professionally] climbing the mountains and running the river.” Of course, it’s not quite that easy, and we’ve all had to invest time, train, and pay our dues.

Hickman (right), in the field.

Starting off with the modest position of cook, Hickman worked his way through the ranks for over 30 years to become an instructor of adventure sports coaching and outdoor leadership skills at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom. And, his years of experience have led to some intriguing conclusions, particularly regarding the direction of outdoor education and expeditions:

“Following World War II, expeditions focused on a militaristic attitude of building the participants’ character — making them more resilient in the face of challenges. More recently, that has changed to a focus on personal development based around environmentalism, Hickman said. But he predicts a change in the next decade as the business focuses more on the outdoors as a resource for public health for an aging and more obese population, as well as for relief from increasing social isolation and depression.”

According to Hickman, “If we could change people’s perspectives and make a small impact on physical and mental health, it would be a reinvention of the outdoors.”

Many are witnessing shifts within outdoor education, in both people’s interests as well as the types of programs clients and participants are seeking. Hickman offers some food for thought, and I’ll be interested to see how the field evolves from here.

Visit the Billings Gazette for Brett French’s full article, and visit Adventure In, Adventure Out’s website for our full listing of adventure, expedition, and team-building programs.

Our woods are waking up from their winter sleep, and birds are moving about in greater numbers, and even returning from warmer latitudes down south. As this happens, my ears are filled with the songs and conversations of these keenly observant creatures: what can I learn from them?

In this short video Jon Young introduces us to the concept of bird language, a form of auditory tracking and situational/landscape awareness.

A blue jay sounds an alarm several hundred yards away: the brush is thick, but now I know they’ve identified a threat.

Numerous birds are singing away: with no threats or territorial disputes to negotiate they let their guard down and chirp away. What sounds do you hear, and what are they telling you?

During today’s staff meeting, when James mentioned seeing a Timber Doodle, we all looked at him with looks of confused skepticism. “What the heck is a Timber Doodle?” I thought. A fan of playful jokes and pranks, we all thought that he must be putting us on. In fact, he wasn’t!

As it turns out, ‘Timber Doodle’ is just another name for the American Woodcock, the only woodcock to be found in North America. And, Timber Doodles are also signs of spring, for the male bird puts on a beautiful courtship “falling-leaf” flight display, signaling to us in the north that warmer weather is on its way.

Keep a watchful eye while in, or when passing by, open spaces and field for these small, stocky, beautifully patterned birds.

For more information, visit the Wildlife Management Institute‘s site, Timberdoodle.org And, visit our website for more information on Adventure In, Adventure Out’s tracking course, The First Science: The Art of Animal Track and Sign.

We switched our AIAO Outing Club days to Sundays and are glad that we did. This past Sunday, we had 11 people join us for an eastern Holyoke Range traverse. The day was quite chilly and the trails were icy.  Max & Luna, two canine friends, joined us as well. They made fast friends and their perpetual play was a joy to watch.

We paused along the way at the Norwottuck overlook, the Horse Caves and Rattlesnake Knob to enjoy snacks, tea and each other’s company.  Some of us were focused at times on the natural history of the area, quizzing each other on tree i.d., exploring a porcupine den, scat on the trail, slug trails on birch, hickory nuts fed on by squirrel, and pileated woodpecker scat full of the exoskeletons of dozens of ants.

As the snow thaws, we have plans to visit local caves, get out on the river and bike the newly opened dirt roads in the Quabbin for some mountain biking. We look forward to further fun and exploration together, as we continue to build the AIAO community.

Happy Trails!  James McNaughton

A recent article in the LA Times citing the journal JAMA Pediatrics addresses the hard and intuitive truth that bullied children are more likely to consider and attempt suicide.

And, in tragic confirmation of this fact, we now have the story of Michael Morones. Bullied so severely, Michael attempted to end his life by hanging himself, but being unsuccessful he is now “being treated for potentially lifelong neurological injuries caused by a lack of oxygen. [His mother] said they don’t know how much he will recover or when, if ever.”

“The world has developed stereotypes for our children, and when our children don’t fit these gender and sexist stereotypes they’re ostracized, ridiculed and bullied…Our society is no longer building up our children and setting them up for success, only tearing them down.”

The full story can be found here.

And, if you’re as passionate as we are about working to address bullying, or if you’d like to speak with us about setting up an anti-bullying workshop, check out Adventure In, Adventure Out’s program You Belong.

Some folks here in the Adventure In, Adventure Out office have been finding this site and its associated apps, widgets, and doohickeys useful for mapping walks and other outdoor ambulations.

With MapMyHike you’re able to create new routes, calculate mileage and elevation changes, share walks and hikes with others, and track all sorts of other bits of information about your activities.

If you’re the techy sort, give it a gander.

And, Happy Saturday from the AIAO staff!

Not even 10 miles outside of Boston, Winchester, MA has become the latest town to experience the drama that often surrounds mountain lions in the Northeast.

While the last official sighting in Massachusetts of one of these big cats took place in the 19th century, New England residents have been seeing mountain lions, as well as their tracks and scat, for many years. But, the crux of many arguments doesn’t revolve around just their presence, but also whether or not there is a breeding population present in our woods. The general consensus seems to be: we are seeing mountain lions, but they have traveled here from other locations. In fact, the cat that was struck and killed on a Connecticut highway just under three years ago is supposed to have traveled from South Dakota based on genetic data.

Regardless, national mountain lion experts have weighed in on the current discovery of mountain lion sign in Winchester, analyzing the photographic evidence, and have concluded that there is a big cat in the area. However, state officials and local academics disagree with the assessment saying that the tracks found are most likely from another animal.

This recent New York Times article contains some helpful information about the current state of mountain lions, and this article tells us more about the situation in Winchester.