I had a plant moment today.

What’s a plant moment? I was introduced to plant moments down at the UofO in plants class where we learned to not just remember plant names but to really respond to their unique qualities and beauty.

It was a homework assignment to illustrate and share a plant moment with the class. Mine was the fuchsia pink of the Flowering Dogwood in front of my parents house. I hated pink as a kid, but I could never stop staring out the window at that gorgeous hot pink explosion that happened every year around the 5th of May. 

Flowering Dogwood Plant Moment: Spring 2002

I was lucky to have many plant moments as a child.  My mother would often find me climbing a tree while wearing my favorite dress. I relished my time amidst the branches of our Port Orford Cedars.  I would peer out over the houses enjoying the view of the emerging suburban forest in our 40 year old neighborhood.

Other times I could be found lying in the grass looking up at the dark branching patterns of the black locust trees with their tiny leaves waving back at me. Or leaping about trying to catch yellow leaf as fell to the ground. My senses were mesmerized. A feeling that as an adult I find I have to work at, came so easily as a child.

Today it was easy. My plant moment came while looking out another window. My new apartment is on the third floor and looks out over the houses and tree canopies of another neighborhood. There are also three Honey Locusts right in front of my window and I find my eyes forever content to follow the winding patterns of their branches or watch the clouds float behind their dark silhouette. 

What a gift it is to have a home that sits in the canopy of the trees again. Sort of my own grown up tree house.

Whats the view out your window? When was the last time you had a plant moment?

Camp Trading Posts are a favorite stop for young campers. I remember making the daily trek to check out what candy was available or to consider which T-shirt I wanted to buy before camp was over. It wasn’t often as a child that I had discretionary money to spend without my mom or dad standing over my shoulder. The camp store is an experience for campers. It’s where much of your branding comes to fruition and it’s an important source of camp revenue.

So where is it?

• Do campers see the store on their way to dinning hall every day?
• Do they get to linger at picnic tables nearby and eat their ice cream bars with a group of excited campers, all tasting that sweet independence of spending their camp allowance?
• Are camp wares displayed and easily visible? Are they available online too?
• Does it carry the wares your campers want to buy? (Check out FDL Camp Solutions for some more great ideas for making your Trading Post more profitable.)
• Is your store clearly signed? Does it’s “look” match your mission and brand?

Where your camp store is and how it’s designed is an important piece of it’s success as memorable part of the camping experience and its profitability.

Read the Interview Here: http://iliveherepdx.com/archives/1317

It was such a treat yesterday to visit sunny Newport Beach California  along with Martha Snyder and share the process of creating a Master Plan for Idyllwild Pines Camp with the camping community. It was a great discussion about big ideas and practical application, funding, and meeting your mission. I was reminded again that creating a master plan can seem so daunting at just the moment when it is most needed. Idyllwild Pines Camp get’s it and Martha did a great job sharing their story.

I am inspired and even more eager to give camps the courage and a clear path to Master Plan development.

This is how you do tree identification!

This quote so aptly describes our creative process at Kahoots.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people…. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”

Steve Jobs from a 1996 Wired article.