Last Saturday was a busy one in our towns. The weather was sparkling like a diamond and a number of communities were hosting work parties in advance of Earth Day.
I was working at one of them along with dozens of other people at the Seminary Hill Natural Area. It is a true pleasure to throw a work party and then spend three hours alongside people who got up early and drove across town with the sole purpose of getting their hands dirty.
Sometimes, it can be hard to ask people to do a hard, thankless job.
But if you’ve already said “show up and work,” then you know that you’re not asking anything of them that they haven’t already agreed to do.
Despite working up a sweat, the whole morning had a kind of easy, breezy vibe that left me feeling so heartened and happy.
Or, as my daughter used to tell me occasionally when a day was particularly warm and happy, “Dad, I just felt a stab of contentment!”
For me, that felt like a gorgeous spring day, sun a’shining in a century-old forest, with people of all ages smiling as they shoveled, clipped, wheelbarrowed and raked. The volunteers from our Friends of the Seminary Hill Natural Area had brought their usual free coffee and cookies for workers, and that kind of thing always sweetens any experience. (I’ve been trying to eat healthy, but I figured hard work earns cookies, so I was in a particularly delicious place.)
The good folks at our locally owned Centralia Quiznos again donated sandwiches for us, as they do every Earth Day. That’s a satisfying way to ring in the noon after starting the day with hard labor.
Throughout the morning, I saw preschool-age kids working alongside folks in their 20s, 40s and even 80s: Little girls with plastic shovels filling up tiny buckets and carefully dumping them where they needed to go.
All of us, from tiny to venerable, were building something sweet together. That’s even better than cookies when it comes to the satisfying savor of contentment.
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Meanwhile over in the Mint City, the good folks at Experience Chehalis had their own Earth Day work party happening.
My friend Hallie Ralls decided to show some Twin Cities love by showing up on behalf of the Centralia Downtown Association, where she is a dedicated volunteer and leader. She wore her baby daughter, Finley, in a front pack as she helped clean up Penny Playground.
Over the course of an hour, she picked up 15 pounds of trash (a little more than what her infant weighs).
In a playful burst of build-up-our-friendship cross-town rivalry, Ralls challenged the board of Experience Chehalis to see if they can put in more effort next month at the Centralia Downtown Association’s spring cleanup (from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 5). If someone from Experience Chehalis comes out ahead, she’ll buy him or her a cup of coffee.
I love this kind of challenge. While the Battle of the Swamp gets all the competitive juices flowing on the football field, it’s working to be the strongest supporter of our larger shared community that really makes this such a great place to live.
As Ralls said, “It was awesome to get out and put in a little elbow grease to make the community a better place to be.”
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In fairness, I also need to note that Ralls came straight from working in Chehalis to also lend a hand back in her hometown of Centralia, joining her husband and their older daughter at the Seminary Hill Natural Area.
Helping clean up two different towns on the same day is quite a feat — and doing it all with a baby is truly impressive.
I think that, regardless of who wins her bet with Experience Chehalis, I owe this hardworking volunteer a cup of coffee and a moment of peaceful contentment.
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Brian Mittge can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
