Okay, so maybe it was on a Saturday...
Here I am posing with my new friend, who I guess I just named George. I recently had the privilege of participating in "It's My Park" day up at Inwood Hill Park. It's a bi-annual event where the city asks for volunteeers to help clean up and restore the city's parks. For those of you who don't know, Inwood Hill is one of the only natural parks left in Manhattan. Other than a few paved walkways, it is exactly the same as it was 100's of years ago when the Indians roamed here. So I headed up with about 20 other people, loaded a truck with a variety of tree saplings (oak, birch and dogwood to name a few), and was given a shovel. We were led into the hills and, after a short lesson on how to plant them, spent the afternoon covering the hillside with baby trees. Collectively, we managed to plant over 150 trees, managing to get in 13 myself. Not having a garden of my own (and missing one), I figured it was the best way to get a little dirt under my fingernails while giving something back to the community. I've enjoyed Inwood Hill Park so much in the past year I felt it was the very least I could do. First we cleared the area of non-indigenous plantlife, mostly garlic mustard, then we cleaned the area. You wouldn't believe how much stuff people throw into the forest. I think everyone should be required to clean up all the crap that everyone else leaves behind, that way perhaps they'd have more respect for nature. You wouldn't believe the stuff I found. An old, rusty bed frame, a large cement pot, garbage bags, not to mention the requisite beer bottles and cigarette packages. But I'm not talking about a small park on the side of the road, I'm talking about a 196 acre natural preserve, in an area that takes at least 20-25 minutes to walk to. How do you get a bed frame up there? And why? Anyway, I had a blast, and there are many more events coming up now that spring is here...
2 comments:
I love this post. Great picture! Everyone should do something like this, especially in urbanized areas. Do you plan on checking on George every now and then? The Natives used to say that if you spent enough time with a tree when it was a sapling, it would eventually talk to you...
I spend a lot of time at Inwood Park and go up to check on George and his other friends often. Unfortunately, it looks like George may not be doing so well. The bugs have taken a real liking to his leaves. The park ranger who was in charge the day we planted them said that in the 1st year about 20% of the trees don't make it...I hope George isn't one of them. I bring up some bottled water and give it to him, so hopefully he'll pull through.
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