【推荐1】How to Teach Your Kids to Enjoy Hiking

Hiking is one of my family's favorite things to do. Ever since my kids were babies, we've been getting out of the house on most weekends to explore and get exercise.

    1    I get this question a lot from others who express surprise at my 5-aged children's ability to walk 10 miles or their willingness to climb 2 , 800-foot peaks. They say their children don't even want to walk to school, let alone walk for hours in rough conditions. So what's the secret?

In fact, there is no secret.     2     I don't mean physical drills. I mean building their confidence through experience of hiking with regularity.

I've made a list of the things I think about whenever we head out on a multi-hour hike. This list has expanded over the years, as I've learned what works and what doesn't.     3     But for anyone starting out hiking with kids, I recommend you keep these suggestions in mind.

Eat before you leave and carry food and water.     4     That way you avoid kids complaining about being hungry within a few minutes of starting.

Show them a route map. Kids like knowing where they are in the world, and maps are perfect for helping them understand that. I always take some time before we leave to show them where we are and where we're headed. Point out landmarks they will see. Talk about how long it will take.     5    

Invite another family to join you, especially one whose kids know how to hike, too. Having company will motivate all of the children to push forward.

【推荐3】Most of us think we have very little time, but the truth is we actually have a lot — on average, five hours 49 minutes each day, which means we typically have somewhere between 36 and 40 hours available to be spent every week however we want. So why don’t we feel time — rich?     1    

One is that we earn more, so time feels more expensive. Then there’s the way we’ve come to see busyness as a status symbol: important people are busy, so we want to be busy, too. Add to that the flood of incoming emails and texts, along with the endless ocean of possibilities, and it’s easy to see where time goes.

A second factor is the comparison we make between what we can do and what others are doing, making us anxious.     2     This fools us into thinking we’re being more productive with our work time, so we try to do it with our leisure time, too. When we’re playing with our kids, we check Facebook. When we’re hanging out with one group of friends, we post pictures to show another.    3    

We’re also addicted to our devices. In 2007, the amount of leisure time we spent on devices like smart-phones could be measured in minutes. Now, we spend on average 3.5 hours a day online.     4    

You might be wondering why you need help deciding how to spend your free time — after all you know the sort of things you enjoy, so what could be so difficult? Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has a surprising opinion on it. “The popular assumption is that no skills are involved in enjoying free time, anybody can do it. Yet the evidence suggests the opposite; free time is more difficult to enjoy than work.” Worryingly, scientists have found that people are often no happier after a holiday than if they’d never taken one.     5     The question still remains unsettled.

【推荐1】Book Reviews

Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility By Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua (Haymarket Books, 2023) Hope isn’t a lottery ticket, says activist and writer Rebecca Solnit. Rather, it’s a tool, and an essential one for anyone living through climate change today. This essay collection from scientists, policymakers, and activists balances showing the very real stakes (利害关系) of the climate crisis with making the case for possibility.

Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock By Jenny Odell (Random House, 2023) “What is time?” we’ve all asked ourselves and each other. For most of us the question is just a question, but not for Odell, who urges us to seriously reconsider the ways we spend it. Not bad advice, but her observations on, say, the importance of rest or the limitation capitalism has on the hours in our collective days can feel more like a mix of other people’s ideas than a new way forward.

Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination By Glyn Morgan (Thames & Hudson, 2022) Science Fiction, writes Nalo Hopkinson in this catalogue for the London Science Museum’s 2022 exhibition, “is the literature of social and technological change… it tests in order to discover the truth.” It upends our brains visually, too, as the images here will prove.

Meganets: How Digital Forces Beyond Our Control Commandeer Our Daily Lives and Inner Realities By David B. Auerbach (Public Affairs, 2023) Auerbach defines meganets as autonomous digital forces that have brought an unheard-of level of chaos to our politics, economy, and social lives. We might think that Microsoft, Google, etc. are in control of these networks; Auerbach suggests that what chatbots might really indicate are new modes of mass control and cheat.

【推荐3】How to Pack a Picnic in Paris like a Local

Picnicking is a national sport in France, especially in Paris. But picnicking here is much more than throwing a couple of sandwiches, some Cokes, and a bag of chips into a grocery sack. No, like all things French, there are rules as to how to pack a picnic in Paris.

How to choose a Picnic Place

The best places to have Parisian picnics include parks, gardens, and along the water. And green spaces actually allow you to step foot on the grass. I am not talking about the Tuileries, the Versailles or Luxembourg Garden. On the other hand, along

River Seine is quite nice, as is the Champ-de-Mars. However, no matter which setting you choose, you’ll want a blanket to go with you.

Picnic Trinity

The Holy Trinity of French picnics includes bread, cheese, and meat. These items are the basic elements for a perfect Paris picnic. Of course, this is France and the variety of bread, cheese, meat is enormous. It can be downright hard to choose, but don’t be nervous. It’s not like you’re choosing the next president or anything. It’s just food.

Drinks for a Picnic in Paris

You may also want to bring something to drink for a perfect Paris picnic. Undeniably, wine is the most popular choice. That’s why bottles of rosé fill the store shelves and disappear just as quickly. It’s a light, refreshing, and inexpensive choice. Not a wine lover? Don’t worry! Beer is also acceptable, especially on a hot summer day. A bottle of sparkling is also good to have.

So, there you have it: How to pack a picnic in Paris. However, picnicking in Paris isn’t just about stuffing your blanket with food and wine. Instead, it’s a social tradition, part of the French joie de vivre.