What is this project?
This project is my contribution to the Access to Nature goal outlined in Vancouver's Greenest City 2020 Action Plan. One of the main targets in the plan is that all Vancouver residents will be within a five minute walk of a natural space by 2020.

Who am I?
I am Becky Till, a CityStudio student working in collaboration with the City of Vancouver on Greenest City projects. I am also a person wondering what it really means to have access to nature.

What will all the participants and myself be doing?
Each participant of this challenge is going to "take a moment" in a "natural space" everyday for the next ten days (March 24th - April 2nd). We will all be posting reflections both written and visual to share what impact this commitment is having on us.

Why am I doing this?
Well, because I used eat blackberries on a forest path during my commute and now I try not to get hit by cars. I want to see if there is a bridge between my busy city life and my need to feel connected to nature. What does it mean to connect with nature in a city? Does it have the same impact as "wilder" nature? Will having more contact make a noticeable difference in my life? To broaden my conclusions I asked fourteen other people living in Vancouver if they could commit to "Accessing Nature" for 10 days straight too. They said yes.
It's on!

Sunday 25 March 2012

Kaylen and Deanna - Day 2






Sunday, Day 2 of the challenge we started by bringing a little nature inside. Kaylen has been yearning to grow his own apple tree, so we picked up this mini greenhouse and got to planting. Once it was settled on the window ledge, he apologized to the apple, but reassured it that this was for the greater good, and there would be more apples to come. Hopefully ;)

Then Kaylen suggested we take out our bikes and hit the seawall! Unfortunately, our tires were really flat, so we had to walk a bit first until we could get some air. We rode from our house to just past English Bay and back. We stopped by the water to collect some rocks for phase 2 of our gardening session, which was planting sunflower seeds in the planter on our balcony.

Once again, it was a beautiful sunny day. Feeling the breeze as we rode made me feel like a kid again, and seeing my son so happy is almost indescribable. I also love the smell of the ocean, so I breathed it in deeply. Kaylen said: "I felt happy, I heard water." Love the sound of the waves crashing too!

Once again, we had such a great time being active outdoors together. Kaylen had so much fun, he decided he should ride his bike more, and that's just fine with me.

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