Welcome to the Inaugural Edition of the Outdoor Afro Blog Carnival!
Wooo hooo….confetti falls…
So what is a Blog Carnival anyway? Well, I learned it is a terrific way to spread your blog wings into new topics, while connecting with more people. And that’s all I needed to know before signing up!  But I also recognized the term ‘carnival’ has a cultural meaning for some that is different than the experience of a spin on the ol’ ferris wheel. So I decided to honor the festive connotation of another kind of Carnival …

….to register for camp!
Whether it be a family camp, like Oakland’s Feather River Camp in Northern California, or Camp Atwater on the East Coast, there are many opportunities to connect with the outdoors that require you to act now as spaces are already filling up!
Check out this neat Family Camp PSA:

Also consider making reservations now for your favorite campsite for tent camping. For example, popular Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s reservation line is red-hot during the winter months that fill the camp solidly after Memorial Day weekend through early Fall.
So …

Rubén and a watershed model
Like many others around the country, this year I spent the Martin Luther King Day Holiday in service of my local community. I chose to do restoration at the aptly named Martin Luther King shoreline in Oakland, California. The area is located just a stones throw away from a congested freeway and sports complex, and is a gorgeous natural environment teeming with local birds and other wildlife that connects to the beautiful San Francisco Bay.
Sunset at the MLK Shoreline Courtesy of the EBRP District …

flickr.com/prettywarstl: a nice plate!
Thanksgiving in my family is more than the delicious turkey, pies, and cobblers my sister Delane makes; it is also a celebration of food that preserves the memories and experiences of those who have passed on, symbolized through the remaking of family recipes…Cherrie’s dressing, Ella mae’s Pea Salad…the matriarchs of my family pulled greens from their garden for dinner, they plucked the feathers of fresh foul, and cleaned the fish they caught in local lakes for Friday fish fries.
Our family also has gratitude for the new generation …

The Tennessee Aquatic Project is a youth organization that engages at-risk and inner city youth with a wide range of outdoor and civic activities to enhance personal development.

After meeting up at the Breaking the Color Barrier Conference last September, Ken Stewart of the Tennessee Aquatic Project (TAP) and Jerry Bransford, a Mammoth Cave National Park guide, decided to join forces and send over sixty youth on a trek up to the Caves. The youth were able to hear first hand the intriguing story of Bransford’s slave ancestors who were important …

Couples Camping © Steve Prezant/Corbis
You can’t change your friends and family, but you can change the way you camp with them. Some moderate planning can make a big difference in your camping experience together. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your camping trips with loved ones:
Shared Space
In some areas, the outdoors still has boundaries, and it’s important to honor both the environment and neighboring campers. If you are planning to visit a drive-up or RV campground, make sure you have reserved a site that …

Christine, Pastor Betty Clark, and Antoine
I have always thought of the outdoors as an ideal setting to wed, and last weekend my nephew Antoine and his lovely fiancé Christine embodied the magic of outdoor nuptials in a beautiful beach side ceremony. The two met and fell in love years ago as camp counselors at the Bar 717 Ranch Camp, located in Northern California.
My Growing Family
The setting was a stunning public beach in Santa Barbara, located about an hour north of Los Angeles. In addition to the invited guests, scores of …

Each 1970’s and early 80’s summer in Oakland, California meant freedom. Summer meant my friends and I left our houses as early as we could, and dreaded the sight of flickering street lamps in the evening. We sometimes spent an entire day riding our bikes to the nearest convenience store 5 miles away, or roaming the neighborhood by roller skate or “tennis” shoe.
We had little knowledge or regard for the true meaning of property lines or value. Undeveloped spaces (like our infamous Dead End of the block) were claimed exclusively …

We just got back from 8 days of Northern California bliss with some of the most fun and fantastic Bay Area folks who all had the same vacation idea: Feather River Camp!

Each year, I meet up with the self titled “Stumpers”. We converge on the camp’s Folk Dance Week theme, and are notorious for our daily all-inclusive Happy Hour, around a big old stump that doubles as a lounge table. Evan and Willa, our resident bards, came up with a theme song some years back (“Here at …

So I am headed out to the beautiful Feather River Camp tomorrow with the kidlets, who have been asking “are we there yet?” since January. But I expect my facebook and blogging withdrawals to arrive Tuesday, when I’ll fight the urge to drive to the Quincy town library for a quick email/facebook/twitter/blogger peek, via the only internet connection in the county.
Photo By Wharman

Instead I’ll revive a time in my life that existed before I got hooked to the social media I.V., and immerse myself in friends and family. I …