When I was a little girl, I vividly recall going to Beaver Hill with my classmates to plant trees with the forest service. It was one of my most memorable field trips … not because of the distance we traveled but because of the impact I we made. I knew we were planting trees that would grow and mature in our lifetime. Each time I drive south on Hwy 101, I look out the window and recall that day.
When I saw the advertisement for a similar opportunity here with Parks & Rec, I knew immediately that this was a perfect project for our Roots & Shoots group. I thereby invited the other families and made plans to spend the morning at the park planting trees. They shared my enthusiasm and most interesting, one mom had grown up in the area and could recall the fire that burned through the area in the early 90s that we were now replanting.
We got started right away and everyone had a good time. The weather wasn’t ideal (moments of gropple, rain, wind and even glorious sun), however, and a few of our young workers got quite cold. They thereby planted about a dozen or so trees and then opted to head back home. I remained with the 3 diehards and we continued to work another 2 hours. In the end, our group planted close to 100 trees and put protective tubes around many of the previous planted trees (the previous group had run out of the tubes).
These two energetic young men (pictured below) also spent a good deal of time digging a trench … all the while talking about the advantage a trench was during war. Where they came up with this, I have no idea … but it kept them engaged for a good hour. I asked them how many trees they thought they might have been able to plant had they not spent so much time digging their trench but they paid me no mind. They were having a good time … they were outside getting dirty … that was all that mattered.
When we returned home, we were treated to a wonderful bowl of chicken soup … homemade by one of the moms. The kiddos played a while and the moms chatted. It was a delightful day … despite the weather.