Nature v. Nurture

Lately I've been thinking about nature versus nurture -- and I mean really thinking.  I even made a Venn Diagram:

{i kid you not}

However, I'm not so great with the self-perception and remembering things.  So I had a super-interesting exchange with Charlie after I asked him about what traits he thought I inherited from the familia.  Via his input and my limited self-assessment, I think nature can get props for my mom's more olive/Greek features, including a big nose and bushy eyebrows.  Also, I can probably thank the gene pool for the extragangly-middle ( extended into high school) phase, which left me irreparably uncoordinated.

Nurture gave-to-me more things like my type A-ness and the development of a deep love for James Taylor (and folk music in general).  I also developed a guilty pleasure/ironic-but-NOT-really-ironic appreciation for the show, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.

{Sully, serving up a bit o' Nat'l Parks with a side of mountain-man sexual tension}

And speaking of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman - remember that time when Sully single-handedly lobbied/helped establish the National Park System? ('Oh, the reeesearch that went into the show!' my mom would proclaim at the end of each episode.)

Annnd here's where things come full-circle!  While I was hiking in Yosemite National Park (Thanks for that, Byron!) this past weekend, I began to reflect on how I spend way too much time licking familial wounds.  I bemoan the current obstacles that my parents, brother and I face and feel bitter that my family unit isn't more 'normal'/'healthy'/'balanced'.

But in actuality, contrary to my recent maudlin outlook, I had a hella' good dose of nurturing growing up.

{YNP - the other one}

Case and point: my love for hiking and camping.

Of my favorite things, I really love napping and indolence.  And I hate mosquitos and blisters.

Thus, if my parents didn't cart me to at least half of the National Parks for family vacations growing up, I'm about 99.72% sure I wouldn't have developed a deep affection for hiking, camping and experiencing nature in the way my parents taught me.

So, I'm grateful- for my kick ass mom and dad, who instilled some fantastic preferences and interests within me, right alongside just enough dysfunction to keep things interesting at Thanksgiving.