This post is brought to you by The Trust for Public Lands; all opinions are our own.

I added my photo to the Trust for Public Land Virtual Postcard Campaign #OurLand

I added my photo to the Trust for Public Land Virtual Postcard Campaign and shared it with my Twitter & Facebook friends!

This family is full of nature lovers. Sure, some of us admire the beauty of it from our couch, while others travel the world to remote locations, and still another is knee deep in it every day at work. But though we all participate differently, we all feel strongly about the need for protecting parks as well as other natural places before they all disappear. That’s why we’re happy to share information about  the Trust for Public Land (http://www.tpl.org/). It’s an organization dedicated to creating and protecting these valuable resources for us all.

“The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. We protect the places people care about and create close-to-home parks—particularly in and near cities, where 80% of Americans live.”

But they can’t do it alone and they need our help to let policy makers know that parks matter to us. They’re running a virtual postcard campaign on their website an they’re asking all  nature lovers to share a photo of yourself outdoor having fun. So the next time you’re out hiking, running, walking, playing, or meditating in your favorite park, snap a photo and  then visit http://www.tpl.org/ourland to upload the photo and add a comment about why nature matters to you. Your photo will be added to the thousands of others. There are Facebook and Twitter buttons so you can share your photo with your social networks too. It’s that easy!

My husband and son shared their picture with the Trust for Public Land Virtual Postcard Campaign #OurLand

My husband and son shared a retro picture with the Trust for Public Land Virtual Postcard Campaign — that little boy is 29 now and travelling the world.

#OurLand Kayaker – The Trust for Public Land

Support The Trust for Public Land

If you’re one of the lucky people who lives in an area with access to parks and natural areas, please know that that’s not the case in many cities in the US where one in three residents doesn’t have that same access. Also, according to The Trust for Public Land’s website, America’s open spaces are disappearing at a rate of 6,000 acres a day. But we can stop that. If you can donate, do so. If it’s not possible right now, share a virtual postcard (or do both!). It’s something we can do for the next generation so that they too can grow up knowing the glory of nature.

Our "baby" still loves the outdoors - here's his Trust for Public Land Virtual Postcard Campaign submission - he's in Hawaii.

Our “baby” still loves the outdoors – here’s his Trust for Public Land Virtual Postcard Campaign submission – he’s in Hawaii.

Watching it All Disappear

We’re very lucky here in the Pacific Northwest that there are plenty of green spaces and parks available, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t losing some amazing spaces to development  every day. When I was a child living here in the 60’s and 70’s, the entire valley below us was filled with farms that grew food and raised cows. In the last 30 years the farms have been bought out and commercial parks now take their place covering all of that rich farmland with cement. The only way to stop that is to work together to preserve what we can because it’s up to us to make sure we all have a green space to relax, decompress, explore, and just commune with nature.

My youngest son - nature is a part of his everyday life as well as special celebrations.

My youngest son – nature is a part of his everyday life as well as special celebrations.

I hope you’ll join me is sharing why you love nature with others. Perhaps your photo will spark a donation or a change in the way we allow green spaces to continue to disappear.

Where’s your green space or park?  Can you imagine life without it?