Eddee Daniel

What is your earliest memory of playing in nature?

When I was 6 my grandmother' bought a cottage on the ocean at Rockport, MA. I visited there with my family every year. Not only did we play on the beach and in tide pools, but her small yard was a jungle gym of granite boulders to climb on.

How does nature impact the whole child?

Now in my 60s, I have been a life-long lover of nature, which I attribute to the constant opportunities to play outdoors throughout my childhood.

Do you have any favorite games to play, picture books to read, and things to do in nature?

Although my favorite "games" now are word games, when I was younger I was involved in structured sports like soccer and competitive swimming. More to the point, however, I had a very active imagination when I was playing outdoors in unstructured situations. My love of exploring nature, established early, has never diminished. Although I no longer remember the picture books I may have seen as a child, my favorite adult "picture books" are all by nature and environmental photographers, such as Eliot Porter and Edward Burtynsky. I have also created many of my own photographic books about my experiences of nature. My favorite things to do in nature are to explore and to photograph. They go hand in hand for me. Not only do I love to explore new places, but to "explore" and try to experience familiar places in new ways. I have many favorite places, which I fondly refer to as "urban wilderness," including the Milwaukee Co Grounds, Milwaukee River Greenway, Menomonee River Parkway. See www.awealthofnature.org.

How do you connect to the 4 P’s philosophy?

I have been a member of the Urban Ecology Center for decades and I love all that they do to promote nature discovery, citizen science, service learning, and community collaborations and to instill in young people a love for nature.

What’s coming up?

I curate a website and an on-going blog called The Natural Realm for Preserve Our Parks that can be found at www.awealthofnature.org