Today was the "day of caring" which means that you can select a volunteer organization to spend time with during the work day. Some folks at work suggested signing up to do some trail maintenance at a local park. MAN it was hard work. 2 hours of solid hoeing and/or shoveling. I told the gal I was working with that if I did this every other day, I'd have rock hard abs and super toned arms. Forget going to the gym! As I got into the rhythm of the work, my mind started to wander. I imagined myself on a farm in the 1800s having to hoe stubborn dirt into something useable - so that I could plant a garden and live. Either that or I was working on a chain gang doing time. I don't think I"ll look at a hiking trail quite the same. Lots of work goes into keeping those places up!  The parks people wanted to record the event. I somehow got handed the camera for that task. The folks I worked with were a little loony, like me. We took some serious photos, but also had some fun. I mean c'mon, shovels, hoes, buckets of dirt, rocks and a whole forest to ourselves?! I'm sure the supervisor is going to have a few laughs when he looks at the photos we took. It will be interesting to see if any of the fun ones make it to their site. If so, I'll have to post them here.

 

Another cool thing was that we got to plant some trees. I picked a nice healthy pine sapling and carried  it to the site. Once there, I looked up into the sky to make sure there was a wide space for it to grow up into. I was then struck with the thought - after packing in the dirt around it - that I helped give a new life to something that would most surely outlast me. It was humbling. However, it was in that spot because of me. in my own little way, I'd left my mark.  At that moment I felt  a  part of something bigger.