Earth Day 2009 – Earth Day is 40 years old this year, and stronger than ever. This post is from Earth Day 2009, written at this time last year when Mr. K and I were just getting started with our plans. This was one of my first ‘practice’ blog posts, and now seems the right time to share it with you. Please think about volunteering for Earth Day if you haven’t signed up somewhere already – or create your own Earth Day project. And, please let us know about your Earth Day – we want to hear!

“What a surprise. What an unexpected surprise – and what a great feeling of community, support and doing something that was so appreciated …. “ – Lexy

I volunteered for Earth Day. Okay, I saw a commercial on Planet Green about the Green Apple Concert, and thought I’d like to go to that concert. Then I learned you could only get tickets if you signed up – and showed up – for an Earth Day Project. So, I volunteered for Earth Day. There was a ‘pulling weeds’ project on Saturday, April 18. So, there I was at 8am taking a big orange plastic bag and following our Weed Warrior down the Capital Crescent Trail to pull garlic mustard – an ‘invasive’ brought over by European settlers in the 1800s. I put on my gloves and silently hoped there weren’t any snakes.

It was great. The weed pulling was easy – it had been raining all week, and garlic mustard is easy to spot with white lacy flowers. The sun was shining and the morning cold started to melt away. I joined up with a high school senior who’s going to study graphic arts and design video games. We talked and pulled. And then it started. Bikers, walkers, runners on the Capital Crescent Trail shouting ‘thank you’ as they sped by – ‘thank you for cleaning our trail!’. Not just one or two but a constant stream of friendly ‘thank yous’ – from Washingtonians intent on their morning exercise. And questions – ‘What are you pulling? I’ve got that in my yard and it’s spreading.’ What a surprise. What an unexpected surprise – and what a great feeling of community, support and doing something that was so appreciated by people who love the beauty of the Capital Crescent Trail, a haven of green among new roads, new houses, and new luxury stores.

My senior highschool partner and I walked back with our Weed Warrior and listened to him talk about Senator Gaylord Nelson who first suggested Earth Day in 1970. Russell showed me his iPhone when he called his mom to pick him up, told me about the video game course he took last summer, and asked me if I did any music or art in my free time. We piled up bags of garlic mustard for pickup on Monday, and walked back to our starting point. A great day, a great feeling. And next year I won’t need concert tickets to volunteer for Earth Day.