Trees for You and Me!

Hop on your bike and cruise the bike trail that runs along I-205, and just south of Hogan Road you'll see a pretty little ridge with oh, I don't know, about 156 new trees planted on it. Wait five to ten years and prepare to be amazed! The vision of many, many people led to a Friends of Trees project to create the I-205 forest right along that very same spot. Improving on the damage done to the surrounding neighborhoods when the highway went in, everyone is now pitching in and planting trees!

Friends of Trees really is something special - planting in neighborhoods and in green spaces and teaching the ins and outs of raising happy, healthy trees. And lots of 'em. We did a bit to help the effort on Saturday, February 20 in the sparkling sunshine. Two take-away tips: 1. When planting trees be sure to loosen up the roots that have wrapped around themselves in the pot (this wrapping is known in the business as "the spiral of death") and 2. Be sure to not plant the tree too low in the ground - the poor thing might drown and rot, and we can't have that. Happy planting!

The magic of elbow grease

Wednesday, February 10, Return Servers returned to the Children's Book Bank. It feels like home by now! If any of you readers are in need of a calm and happy space to refuel your spirit, this is it. Come to clean and repair donated books and look out over the stacks of books ready to go to their new homes with deserving kids! With just a little scrubbing and a bit of tape, it's amazing how much we can make a old book seem new. It just doesn't get much better than this.