#recreation — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.fogolf.com/1370363/have-you-seen-this-golfer-struck-by-lightning-while-recording-friends-in-rain/ Have You Seen This? Golfer struck by lightning while recording friends in rain #Cars #classifieds #Golf #GolfNews #health #Homes #jobs #Local #news #radio #Recreation #SaltLake #sports #Television #traffic #Utah #weather

https://www.fogolf.com/1367946/day-one-for-the-public-on-the-storm-king-golf-course/ Day one, for the public, on the Storm King Golf Course #Calendar #classifieds #COOKING #engagements #events #Festivals #GolfClubs #music #NYSchools #obits #obituaries #outdoors #pets #PublicNotices #Recreation #restaurant #SouthernUlster #ThingsToDoAroundHudsonValleyNY #WallkillValley

Recreated a drawing of a mermaid that a high school student once drew several years ago! #mermaid #fanart #red #recreation #woman #cute #simple #drawing

Transport Centre, 1959

Photograph showing small children playing on swings and seesaws on the roof of the new Lower Hutt Transport Centre, the top floor and roof of which are the premises of the Lower Hutt day nursery, to be officially opened by the Mayoress Dowse. A high safety fence can be seen around the edge of the roof.
Hutt City Libraries via DigitalNZ

http://api.digitalnz.org/records/55748476/source

#TransportCentre #Playcentres #CommunityCenters #Playgrounds #Recreation #Nurseries

https://www.fogolf.com/1358399/former-utah-golfer-blake-tomlinson-captures-2nd-utah-open-title-in-5-years/ Former Utah golfer Blake Tomlinson captures 2nd Utah Open title in 5 years #Cars #classifieds #Golf #GolfNews #Homes #jobs #Local #news #radio #Recreation #SaltLake #sports #Television #traffic #Utah #weather

https://www.fogolf.com/1357463/former-utah-golfer-tomlinson-surges-to-2-shot-lead-after-36-holes-at-utah-open/ Former Utah golfer Tomlinson surges to 2-shot lead after 36 holes at Utah Open #Cars #classifieds #Golf #GolfNews #Homes #jobs #Local #news #radio #Recreation #SaltLake #sports #Television #traffic #Utah #weather

Garden tips everyone in coastal North Carolina should know https://www.allforgardening.com/1926598/garden-tips-everyone-in-coastal-north-carolina-should-know/ #books #food #gardening #GardeningNorthCarolina #NorthCarolina #Recreation

🥾 🌲 From Parks Canada. .🏕️. 🔦

🇨🇦 🔥
Current fire status updates, fire ban information, emergency contact, and more

#Travel #Canada #Wildfires
#Recreation #Camping #Hiking

https://parks.canada.ca/nature/science/conservation/feu-fire#country

We all have to believe in something. I believe I'll go paddle.
-- Anonymous Canoeist

⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #AnonymousCanoeist #Humor #Nature #Recreation

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #CoyoteButtesNorth #TheWave #VermilionCliffs #Utah

https://www.fogolf.com/1338979/ogden-natives-connor-howe-mitchell-schow-take-aim-at-35th-utah-championship/ Ogden natives Connor Howe, Mitchell Schow take aim at 35th Utah Championship #Cars #classifieds #Golf #GolfNews #Homes #jobs #Local #news #radio #Recreation #SaltLake #sports #Television #traffic #travel #Utah #weather

'Gegenlicht' #FotoVorschlag 📷
Das ist für Fotograf und Smartphonekamera eine Herausforderung, nicht nur am #SilentSunday!

#photography #recreation #gardenarchitecture #grugapark

Beat the heat: Expert shares tips for staying hydrated during extreme temperatures

MURRAY — With triple-digit temperatures expected across much of Utah this holiday weekend, heal…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Nutrition #cars #classifieds #health #Homes #jobs #Lifestyle #local #nature #news #nutrition #radio #recreation #saltlake #sports #Television #traffic #Utah #weather
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2743216/beat-the-heat-expert-shares-tips-for-staying-hydrated-during-extreme-temperatures/

Beat the heat: Expert shares tips for staying hydrated during extreme temperatures https://www.diningandcooking.com/2743216/beat-the-heat-expert-shares-tips-for-staying-hydrated-during-extreme-temperatures/ #cars #classifieds #health #Homes #jobs #Lifestyle #local #nature #news #nutrition #radio #recreation #SaltLake #sports #Television #traffic #Utah #weather

#kayak #recreation #fun

Been AWOL - a little 3-hour trip kayaking down a river... exhaustion followed and afternoon nap was obligatory!

https://www.fogolf.com/1318773/drapers-bowen-mauss-goes-back-to-back-to-win-128th-utah-state-amateur-championship/ Draper’s Bowen Mauss goes back-to-back to win 128th Utah state amateur championship #Cars #classifieds #Golf #GolfNews #Homes #jobs #lifestyle #Local #news #radio #Recreation #SaltLake #sports #Television #traffic #Utah #weather

“It is fun to have fun”*…

… but it’s getting tougher to manage. As Ben Steverman reports, with fewer places to relax and socialize, and steeper prices for entry, having fun is quantifiably harder than it used to be…

Over the course of the past two decades, the US has lost 2,000 golf courses and 7,000 bars and nightclubs, and Americans now own 1.3 million fewer boats. It’s prohibitively expensive to open a new summer camp and practically impossible to build a beachfront resort or marina. Venue shortages afflict musicians looking for performance spaces, children looking to play in local sports leagues and adults looking to go out dancing. The best time to book a rental for this summer was last summer, and the best time to book for next summer is … well, it may already be too late.

America appears to be suffering from a fun shortage. For the industries supplying recreational amenities, this deficit is a business opportunity. But for everyone not positioned to profit from the trend, it’s a source of stress and frustration that’s been building for a while. It also has broad ramifications for the future of the economy, society and politics. On… the country’s 250th birthday, it’s worth pondering whether the pursuit of happiness has become more difficult.

First, a quick definition: Experts on these matters generally agree that the kinds of fun we should be striving for are enjoyable experiences with others. A live show with friends, a vacation with family or even small talk with a stranger can all make us feel more connected and content.

By those measures, it’s clear that Americans are having less fun than they used to. Since its 2003 inception, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey shows double-digit percentage drops in the hours spent each year on arts and entertainment activities, attending sports or recreational events, and attending or hosting social events. In a 2024 US Census Bureau survey, almost 80% of respondents said they saw friends or relatives fewer than three times a week.

The US, along with Australia, Canada and New Zealand, seems to have grown uniquely unhappy over the past 15 years, according to the annual World Happiness Report, which combines data on more than 140 countries. For good reason, we often blame smartphones and social media for making us feel worse. But most of the world uses these digital tools at least as much as Americans do, and the US still came in 23rd on the global happiness ranking in 2026, down from 13th a decade prior. America’s happiness decline must have another major cause, says report co-editor and University of British Columbia professor emeritus of economics John Helliwell. He points to the “often forgotten” factor of fun. “It’s not just connections” with other people, he says. “It’s how much you’re enjoying the connections.”…

… It keeps getting harder — and more expensive — to have fun. A combination of factors is delivering a summer of higher prices, fewer options, limited vacancies and longer lines.

No matter how enthusiastic Americans are for offline experiences, there’s a limit to how much they can afford, with prices rising at the fastest pace in three years. As the cost of commutes, housing, utilities and other necessities climbs more quickly than wages, people have little choice but to skimp on fun. Meanwhile, the prices of some key categories of fun have been rising even faster than inflation. The price of a ticket to one of the top 100 concert tours in North America averaged $134 last year, trade publication Pollstar estimates, a 42% increase from 2019. Vacation rentals in coastal destinations jumped 38% over the same period, to $413 per night, according to data analyst AirDNA LLC.

Fun isn’t just harder to afford. It’s harder to access. The US has lost a fifth of its movie theaters and almost a third of its bowling alleys since 2001, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Camp spots for children fill up quickly, with more than 80% of organizations reporting steady or increasing enrollment last summer, according to the American Camp Association. At US country clubs, the median initiation fee has doubled since 2019, to $51,500, at the same time that waiting lists have also doubled in length, according to data firm Club Benchmarking…

… Parks departments have added thousands of pickleball courts to meet demand, but the new facilities often come at the expense of basketball and tennis, which have also been getting more popular, while the rest of the park gets busier as well. Park space per person declined in 65 of the 100 largest cities from 2016 to 2023, according to the Trust for Public Land. Record crowds are also inundating the National Park Service’s most scenic spots and descending on America’s most popular beach towns. With tours, hotels and beach houses booking up early, planning a vacation has turned into a thankless task of gaming out the distant future. “Availability is becoming a bigger issue than price,” says Laura Mattia, a financial adviser at the firm Wealth Enhancement in Sarasota, Florida. “I see clients booking rentals six to nine months ahead, committing before they have fully thought through the trip, or saying yes to expensive options simply because they are available.”

Rising inequality is making the problem worse, as the superwealthy bid up the costs of fun, whether luxury hotels or the best seats at sporting events. A 2011 study showed lower levels of happiness in areas of Switzerland with more Ferraris and Porsches. “Inequality matters objectively to people, but when it’s thrown in their faces, they like it even less,” Helliwell says…

…

… This fun shortage may be shifting American politics in significant ways. Studies in the UK and continental Europe show voters are more likely to vote for right-wing candidates in the years after local social spaces such as pubs shut down. “When the last gathering place in a town goes, people experience it as a sign of being left behind, of a place emptying out,” says Subtil, the author of a new paper showing France’s far-right National Rally party has benefited from the closure of thousands of bars-tabacs, shops where customers can make a bet, get a coffee or pick up a newspaper.

Replenishing America’s inventory of fun won’t be easy at a time when digital tools are absorbing ever more attention and economic resources. It will take creativity and capital to generate real excitement in real spaces where real people interact. Encouragingly, there are signs of a shift: After New York City repealed century-old rules against dancing in bars in recent years, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a similar statewide policy in May. Massachusetts, meanwhile, has loosened rules that capped the number of liquor licenses, which Boston Mayor Michelle Wu argued were starving neighborhoods of local gathering places. The city may add 225 liquor licenses, the vast majority designated for areas far from the tourist sites downtown.

Local governments “really need to think about fun, leisure and entertainment for everyone,” including children and seniors, says Jess Reia, a professor of public policy and data science at the University of Virginia.

In the meantime, Americans are finding cheaper ways to fill their free time. Participation in outdoor activities and team sports has soared in the past five years, reaching record levels, according to a long-running survey by the Physical Activity Council, which estimates the number of “inactive” Americans has dropped by 13.6 million, or 18%, since 2020. Plus there are signs that young people are taking up old-school hobbies, such as crafts and birding, Reia says. “People are trying to find the fun where they can.”

“The Fun Shortage Is Real, and It’s Making America Miserable,” gift article from @bloomberg.com.

See also: “Do you believe that everybody should have fun or that only a few people should have fun?” from @garrettbucks.bsky.social.

* Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

###

As we recreate revelry, we might note that today is National Swimming Pool Day. While public baths and dedicated coastal swimming areas have a very long history, the first recorded swimming pool in the U.S. was a public pool built in 1887 in Brookline, Massachusetts, a place to socialize and beat the summer heat before the invention of air conditioning. One of the first residential pools was built on the Vanderbilt estate in Asheville, North Carolina in 1895.

As of 2024, there were 10.7 million pools in the U.S., of which 10.4 million are residential (about 8% of homes). While public pools took an early lead in the build-out, these days only 309,000 are public or commercial pools.

Reading in the Park

https://frankjcasella.wordpress.com/2026/07/10/reading-in-the-park/

Can Brookings save the shade and preserve the roots of Pioneer Park? https://www.allforgardening.com/1868146/can-brookings-save-the-shade-and-preserve-the-roots-of-pioneer-park/ #AndForestry #AshTrees #BarbaraWalder #Brookings #BrookingsFoundation #Campaign #canopy #CityOfBrookingsParks #EmeliaRoberts #EmeraldAshBorer #garden #gardening #GardeningAustralia #GlacialLakesTreeRemoval #JoshuaBauman #KurtOsborne #park #PioneerPark #Preserve #Recreation #roots #save #shade #TannerAiken #trees

Chapter 8 Health-giving plants

The neat, trimmed and manicured grass of the pitch of Norwich City Football Club demonstrates one of many non-food uses of plants. Whether exploitation of this plant resource makes you miserable or happy rather depends on which football team you support!

The numerical inspiration for chapter 8 comes from ‘eight millimetres’, the optimum height of the grass on Wimbledon’s tennis courts. That snippet of information leads to thoughts of plants that provide us with a variety of leisure activities and the opportunity to enrich our lives – whether we be ill, in need of ‘rehabilitation’, or just want a bit of ‘space’. Accordingly, leisure activities that help us to keep active and fit are considered here, as well as plant products that are essential to some of those activities and past-times. The contribution of plants – and ‘nature’ and ‘greenness’ more broadly – in the context of human health and wellbeing is also discussed. The Japanese notion of ‘forest bathing’ is not ignored [Ed. – although that part is not ready yet (neither is a look at the physiological impact on plants of paint applied on playing surfaces)…].

In Chapter 7 we’ve just seen that grasses – in the guise of cereals such as wheat, maize, and rice – are crucial staples for the nutrition of a large part of humanity. And the importance of this plant family to people doesn’t end there. When humans are well fed and have leisure time they often turn to grasses again. But this time it’s to provide a plethora of playing surfaces (e.g., Naomi Volain; Lindsey Blackmore; Robert Wood, 2024, and here).

Apart from the perfectly manicured lawns of the Grand Slam (Simon Rea) tennis courts of Wimbledon (which are 100% Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass (Roshneesh Kmaneck, 2025; Tim Newcomb)), and the pitches of professional football clubs (Fig. 9) (that are probably as preened and pampered as the players (e.g., Sam Dalling)), many games and activities are played on grassed surfaces of one sort or another throughout the world. By no means exhaustive, this list of activities includes such sports as: football (which is known as soccer in the USA), baseball, rugby, lacrosse, hockey, tennis, soft-ball, polo, cricket, and rounders; field events such as archery, javelin and discus throwing; and past-times such as golf [Ed – which I recall being memorably defined as ‘a good walk spoiled‘…].

[Ed. – despite its alternative – and original – name of lawn tennis, tennis isn’t just played on a lawn of grass. Opponents also battle it out on non-grass surfaces such as clay and hard courts]

[Ed. – for more grassy activities, see here, here, here, and here. And, for a good read about the “History of Sports Field Turfgrass Surfaces”, see James B Beard]

Quite often these different sports – played on so-called ‘amenity grasslands’, natural grass surfaces which can be defined as “all grass with recreational, functional or aesthetic value and of which agricultural productivity is not the primary aim”, or “an open grassy area (park, playing field, green space) used by the public” – demand their own particular mix of grass species to provide the desired characteristics, e.g., to withstand frequent cutting and trampling (e.g., CE Hubbard, 1972, p. 423), required for their particular intended use.

[Ed. – for more of an insight into amenity grass species, and their applications and functions, see Barbara Wiewióra & Grzegorz Żurek (2023)]

[Ed. – in the USA, the sport’s name ‘football’ is reserved for American football (which is also known as gridiron football) and is played not with a spherical football but an oval-shaped ball (technically known as a prolate spheroid – as opposed to something like the planet Earth, which is an oblate spheroid (John W Foster, 2025)) that’s similar to a rugby ball. Maybe this isn’t too surprising because rugby was one of the sports from which American football originated. However, since soccer is also a sport from which it originated, Mr P Cuttings is still none the wiser why American football has the ball the shape it has…]

Extending this plant-based connection further, many of the items of equipment used in these activities are traditionally made from plant materials. For example, wood for tennis rackets (in the days when their frames were still made out of wood (Stuart Miller, 2006; Thomas Allen, 2020), and cricket bats (famously cricket-bat willow – Salix alba ‘Caerulea’ (WJ Bean, 1907) – for cricket bats (Paul Franklin)). Plant fibres – such as cotton (Hans-Dietrich H Weigmann) – also loom large in various items of sports clothing (e.g., here, here). And plant-derived rubber (Alan N Gent) has been used to provide the bouncy balls essential to some of these activities – apparently, as far back as 1600 BCE in Mesoamerica (Dorothy Hosler et al., 1999; Deborah Halber; Marina Arias & Peter J van Dijk, 2019).

[Ed. – for more – non-grass – plant associations with the Olympic Games, see Sophia Rhizopoulou, 2004]

Plants promote well-being of people

And those outdoor, grass-supported activities are not just enjoyable, but are beneficial to well-being too. Many modern-day studies espouse the benefits – to both general health and mental function – of participation in and exercise derived from such activities (e.g., J Eric Ahlskog et al., 2011; Alan Donaldson & Caroline Finch, 2012; Jiri Dvorak et al., 2012). In many respects these are merely present-day endorsements of the classical notion of mens sana in corpore sano (‘healthy in mind, healthy in body‘) (Aanya Jajoo & Eda Gorbis).

[Ed. – although the Latin phrase is attributed to Ancient Roman poet Juvenal (Billy Morgan & Frances Hutchens), it appears to develop the same idea previously advocated by even-more-ancient Roman Seneca the Younger – who died 63 years before Juvenal’s own demise]

Even for those of a more sedentary persuasion, just being outside – albeit in a ‘green space’, whether natural or urban (Richard Fuller et al., 2007) – may be sufficient to provide physical and psychological (Fuller et al., 2007; Julian Dobson et al) and health (Andrew Lee & R Maheswaran, 2010; Catherine Ward Thompson & Eva Maria Silveirinha de Oliveira, 2016) benefits. Not too surprisingly, this whole concept of ‘Connectedness with Nature’ (CN) is an area of active research (e.g., Renate Cervinka et al., 2012; here; Miles Richardson; Leanne Haywood & James Stiller, 2024; Ziv Shafir, 2025).

The health benefits of what may be termed ‘enclosed green spaces’ – or allotments or household gardens – are also recognised, for old (Theresa L Scott et al., 2020; Julia Hotz, 2025]) and young (Bambi Yost & Louise Chawla, 2009; Cathy Jordan, 2022) alike. Plus, the food you grow yourself may even be healthier for you. Indeed, the very idea of gardening as a source of life-sustaining – and good-health-promoting – food was given added importance and urgency in the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign in the UK during World War II (John Harrison). But, it’s an activity that’s rooted deep within humanity, and an estimated 27 million people in the UK enjoy gardening, according to the gardening industry statistics for 2025.

Gardens galore

Aside from that more functional view of gardens, there is a great tradition throughout the world – not just in the UK with its ‘’nation of gardeners’ (Judith Wakelam, 2010; Noel Kingsbury, 2017; Aurélien Wasilewski, 2024; Neville Stein, 2025) – for ‘pleasure gardens’, “a park or garden that is open to the public for recreation and entertainment” (quoted from here) (e.g., those in London (Warwick Wroth, 1896, such as Vauxhall Gardens, and Raneleagh Gardens) of various forms.

[Ed. – maybe us Brits are not so much a nation of gardeners as one of garden visitors..?]

Such man-made creations were earthly representations of paradise designed to appeal to the senses, provide a place for various ‘amusements’, and represent an oasis of calm amidst the hurly-burly of a more mundane and modern-day existence in many parts of the world. The importance of such places worldwide is underlined by the recognition that the Historic England organisation in the comparatively tiny land-mass of the UK lists 1,700 (as at 20th January, 2025) registered parks and gardens of “special historic interest”. That impressive catalogue is in addition to the botanic gardens (Arthur Hill, 1915; M Alejandra Jaramillo et al., 2025) and physic gardens (Iona Glen, 2022; Katherine Tyrrell, 2025) world-wide. And let us not forget that one of the seven wonders of the ancient world (Elisabeth Deffner; Richard Sheposh, 2024) was the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon (David Marsh, 2021).

Plants promote productivity and recovery

Coming even closer to home there is a body of evidence that the presence of plants in the workplace – or home – improves the ‘wellbeing’ of people (Marjolein Elings, 2006), reduces sick-leave, reduces stress (Parwiz Niazi et al., 2023), and improves people’s productivity (Tina Bringslimark et al., 2007). Indeed, for some individuals, just the sight of a natural landscape from their hospital bed may be enough to aid their recovery from surgery (Roger Ulrich, 1984 [and the 40-year retrospective on that seminal work by Carlsson Elkins (2024)] or during rehabilitation (Ruth Kjærsti Raanaas et al., 2012).

Even for those not in hospital, Masashi Soga & Kevin J Gaston (2025) found that there were health benefits from simply viewing nature through windows, which led them to state that “Our findings emphasize the value of integrating nature views into urban environments to enhance health and well-being, particularly in densely populated cities where access to large green spaces is limited”. And, if you can’t see plants through a window, simply touching plants indoors can induce a feeling of calm amongst people (Kazuko Koga & Yutaka Iwasaki, 2013). Plants are good for people.

Furthermore, the health-promoting properties of gardens within the hospital setting – and the whole ‘green care’ notion (Dorit Karla Haubenhofer et al., 2010) – may have wider medical value (Deborah Franklin, 2012). In a broader social context, the benefits of engaging in horticulture as a channel for the energies of ‘adjudicated youths’ has been promoted by the New Jersey Department of Correction and Division of Juvenile Services in co-operation with Rutgers University Cook College (Joel Flagler, 1995). So, arguably, such communing with nature helps to improve the health of society, too. Small wonder, then, that in a 2012 job satisfaction survey, gardeners and florists were amongst the UK’s happiest workers (which assertion was reiterated for both in 2015, 2019, and 2024). Furthermore, “Working With Flowers Can Change Your Life” – for ‘how’, see here. And for more on “Health-Boosting Benefits” of working in gardening, see here.

Conclusion

This chapter has looked at ways in which plants provide us with a variety of leisure activities – and the opportunity to enrich our lives – whether we be ill, in need of ‘rehabilitation’, or just want a bit of space (as long as it’s green!).

The Majestic ‘Gloucester Tree’ Reopens to Climbers in Australia After 3 Years of Repair

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/the-majestic-gloucester-tree-reopens-to-climbers-in-australia-after-3-years-of-repair/

July Fireworks Include 2 Separate Meteor Showers to Light up the Night Sky Late in the Month

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/july-fireworks-include-2-separate-meteor-showers-to-light-up-the-night-sky-late-in-the-month/

Down the Garden Path: What did colonists plant in their gardens? – Shaw Local https://www.allforgardening.com/1851008/down-the-garden-path-what-did-colonists-plant-in-their-gardens-shaw-local/ #ExtensionNews #garden #GrundyCountyFrontHeadlines #history #Home&Garden #KankakeeCountyFrontHeadlines #KendallCounty #KendallCountyFrontHeadlines #Recreation #WillCountyFrontHeadlines

Just got so building this little fire pit. Plan on using it this 4th of July weekend. Gonna test it tonight. Hoping it has enough airflow. Will change design if not! Gonna roast some dogs! 🔥♨️ #Grill #HotDog #Summer #Recreation It will be great this fall too! #Backyard #BBQ

#Firepit #OutdoorFun #Smores #4th #GetTogether #NightTime #BYOB