Today I am thankful for Earth Day … and I have plenty of “earth” under my fingernails to prove it. We started work on the community garden today and planted a few trees along the way.
The kids had passed out notices to everyone in the neighborhood that work would begin on the community garden today and what a surprise! Neighbors we have not really seen since last fall showed up with shovels and hoes. Some were sowing seeds. Others were whacking weeds. The tiller still works and its steady little hum was the background noise of the day.
Some of the older neighbors in the neighborhood made lemonade and some even baked a few cookies for the event. A couple made sandwiches for the group. It was more a party than a work day. Well, that’s how it seemed while we were in the garden plot.
But, now that I am home… WHEW! I am out of shape and I am tired. But, all in all our neighborhood took care of one little block of earth today. And, in a few weeks that good earth will begin to provide food for the neighborhood.
That’s one of the really good things about our earth. When we care for it, it provides for us. Now, this weekend we are going to do some serious cleaning of our neighborhood earth. It’s amazing how much trash is along the roadside. Our neighbors… and our family… are good about picking up trash and not throwing stuff out the car windows. But, it is really shocking how much trash can collect in the ditches and along the shoulders of the road.
Maybe each of us should take an earth hour everyday to keep our planet healthy. By the way, some of the kids… always thinking of ways to make money for one cause or another… had a few cotton grocery bags screen printed with the name of our neighborhood on the bags. Of course, I think all the neighbors bought two or three each. The kids made some money to purchase some garden tools for the folks down at the community garden… and we all pledged to stop using plastic bags.
