I walk slowly through the low grass, my feet brushing through the blades and a light breeze tickling my face. Suddenly, I stop in my tracks; a great, majestic canine lumbers in my direction, his eyes trained on me. The beautiful creature’s ears droop down toward the earth, and I remain quiet so as not to disturb him. The beast then steps into a patch of brilliant sunlight, and without warning, he kneels to the ground and abruptly twists onto his back. With a low sigh of contentment, the regal beast falls asleep in the warm sun, and I continue on my way.

So that description must have made you think that I was Alex Stearns-Bernhart, the true writer of Nature with Alex, right? Wrong! My name is Alex Wolfe, and unlike Mr. Stearns-Bernhart, who graduated last year, I am what you would call “indoorsy.”

When I realized recently that we would be without The Southerner’s favorite nature columnist, I wondered if I could continue the column in his place. I soon recognized that this was a terrible idea; the last time I had experienced nature was when I had walked through my backyard to pick up my basset hound Ike’s “business” and saw him sleeping in the sun (i.e. the description in the first paragraph).

I don’t think I had ever truly appreciated the value of the other Alex’s love of nature until that moment. I’m not necessarily one of those people who hisses at any contact with sunlight, but I definitely prefer camping out in my room with my laptop and snacks to camping in the woods. He, however, spent almost every weekend out hiking in a forest or rafting down rapids, something to which very few high school students can relate to.

In fact, the Outdoor Foundation reported that not just high school students, but youth in general are heading outdoors less and less every year. The National Parks Service stated there were at least 35 percent more backcountry campers in 1979 than in 2010. As a nation, we are trading in our appreciation for nature and the natural world for an admiration of Wi-Fi and video games.

To be honest, when I realized that the last exposure I had with “nature” was just in my backyard, I was ashamed. I felt like I should have put my free time to good use. Instead, I watched entire seasons of old TV shows like Heroes and Smallville on my computer and checking Facebook, something that I do during the school year anyway.

That’s why Nature with Alex was so valuable; it reminded us that there is life and beauty just outside our door, and it showed us just how much there is to learn from the part of our earth that goes unnoticed due to technology and skyscrapers.

So despite the school year having started and my amount of free time greatly decreasing, I have made myself a personal promise to get out of my room and into the natural environment more. While I cannot see myself becoming a wilderness expert like Alex in any way, I will definitely learn from him and his values. And even though this may be the last Nature with Alex to grace the pages of The Southerner, don’t let the column’s message go to waste.