Post by Bev, Country Hills Staff.
The Eagles got it right when they sang “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device” in their hit “Hotel California”. I don’t think they meant devices of the hand-held sort but the idea totally makes sense today.
Maybe we could all use a little encouragement to curb our device dependency. Here are a few alternatives to keep you off your phone for a while and enjoy life without a device.
Hit the trails.
Grand River Parks Membership Card
This permit allows entry to 10 Grand River Parks and the Luther Marsh Wildlife Management Area for up to 6 people arriving together in one personal vehicle (or walking in).
This permit provides free day-use access for one vehicle and its occupants to all Ontario provincial parks.
Explore our local area.
- The Grand River: An Aerial Journey | Grand River Conservation Foundation
- Paddling the Grand River | Grand River Conservation Authority with Jamie Kent
- Waterloo Wellington & Guelph Hikes | Nicola Ross with Amy Darrell
- Grand River Country Trails 2 | Katherine Jacob
Who doesn’t like a picnic?
- A Perfect Day for a Picnic | Tori Finch
- Paris Picnic Club | Shaheen Peerbhai & Jennie Levitt
- The Beach House Cookbook | Mary Kay Andrews
- The Picnic: Recipes and Inspiration from Basket to Blanket | Marnie Hanel, Andrea Slonecker & Jen Stevenson
Gone fishing!
I’ve often heard a bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office.
- Fishing : the complete guide to basics | Craig Richie
- Fishing Ontario’s Grand River Country | Edited by Stephen May
- Fishing Grand River Country | Liz Leedham & Jim Reid
- The Total Fishing Manual | Joe Cermele & the Editors of Field & Stream
Grow something.
“As the garden grows so does the gardener” Unknown Author.
- Vegetable Gardening for Ontario | Laura Peters
- Container Vegetable Gardening: Growing Crops in Pots in Every Space | Liz Dobbs with Anne Halpin
- Gardening with Junk: Simple and Innovative Planting Ideas Using Recycled Pots and Containers | Adam Caplin
- Best Garden Plants for Ontario | Liz Klose
Don’t like the outdoors? Stay home and meet someone new.
- Born a Crime: Stories from a South American Childhood | Trevor Noah
- A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder | Ma-Nee Chacaby with Mary Louisa Plummer
- Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir | Marina Nemat
- Rising: Becoming the First Canadian Woman to Summit Everest | Sharon Wood
There has got to be a classic you never read in high school.
Here’s a few of my favourites.
- Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen
- War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy
- The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald
- To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee