When you need a breather, where do you get your outdoor mojo?

QUICK FIX 

Green with your Offspring is a narrative nudge to get outdoors with youngsters. That can be challenging in an urban area where many of us live. In my case that’s Tampa. But the benefit of being Floridians is water within reach, often five or ten minutes away by car. And where there’s water, there’s wildlife. It might be a park or a retention pond at your nearest big box store. But find a shade tree, focus on the water and wildlife, and suddenly a city setting becomes a backdrop, not a stage. Proximity is prime, too. I’m a parent of young ones with evolving attention spans, so nearby outdoor experiences are golden. In case of melt-down mayhem or unpacked snacks, I can hustle home. 

Check back regularly for Offspring columns. And feel free to recommend wildlife settings, urban or rural, near your Florida home. Tell us about your experience in 500 words or less. Be funny, insightful, whatever fits your style.

outside the box BY EDWARD C. WOODWARD

Now that school is out, I’ve got a helper in my home office. And she needs desk supplies like Daddy. A composition book, crayons and a cardboard table sufficed, until Anna realized she needed a back-pocket-sized notebook like mine. So we took a working field trip to Target: they’ve got a retention pond with wildlife, which qualifies for my column. And watching wildlife would temper my big-box-bends before surfacing in a sea of Target red. Must. Resist. Lowest. Prices. Of. The. Season. Feeling.Weak.  Here’s my account of thinking outside the big box.

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al lopez park BY EDWARD C. WOODWARD

We have a young tulip poplar in our front yard called “Pops.” When my wife and I were tree hunting two years ago, we targeted the quick growing shade variety: sycamore, sweet gum, red maple and the poplar. We settled on the poplar, mainly for sentimental reasons: it thrives among other hardwoods in the creek bottoms and hills of Quincy, my hometown in the panhandle. But would the tree flourish in central Florida? So, curious about the progress of other poplars, Sam and I went to Al Lopez, a 130-plus acre anomaly within one of Tampa’s busiest quadrants: Dale Mabry Highway, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Himes and Hillsborough avenues.  Click Here for the Full Story.

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gadsden park BY EDWARD C. WOODWARD

I live in Tampa about 10 minutes from Gadsden Park, setting for the first installment of Green with your Offspring. How fitting since the park and my native Florida county are named after the same man, James Gadsden. I didn’t uncover the connection until researching the park’s name. Seems like good roots for a column. Here’s my account.

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weedon island preserve BY EDWARD C. WOODWARD

Crossing Gandy Bridge from Tampa is an ironic primer for visiting Weedon Island Preserve ... The bridge gives way to bayside mangroves along Gandy Boulevard. During this outing a Great Blue Heron crossed the road, then disappeared amid the green thicket. Within minutes Sam and I would be at Weedon Island, our appetizer preparing us for an experiential feast at the historic preserve.    Click Here for the Full Story.