Service Activities

I have always loved doing service activities. You go with a group of your friends/family and help others who need it (or not :-). Since going to college I hadn't had much of a chance to do many service activities as I was constantly studying and working. Well, since graduating, that has changed. I now have a job, which unlike school doesn't require me to work on the weekends and the evenings. So, now I can get back into doing the things I love most, one of which being service. After looking around a bit and participating in several service activities organized by my work and my church, I finally found a service activity that I thoroughly enjoy and that REALLY needs my help. Nearby is a conservation area that has quite a few paths that go through a wooded area. Well, the first Saturday of every month a group of volunteers get together to help prune along the sides of the paths so that the paths don't become overgrown and people don't have to duck to walk on them.

The first time I participated in this activity I went with my local church. We had so much fun and I fell in love with the conservation area and how it reminds me so much of home with all of the trees and streams everywhere. (If only it had some hills to it, then it would be home :-) So, I returned yesterday by myself and had the time of my life helping out the normal group of volunteers who do this every month. One of the more enjoyable parts of this service activity were meeting and getting to know the other volunteers. All of them (excluding me and the two people who "work" for the conservation area) were old retired men who used to work in the oil business. They were so much fun to talk to and to learn about the changes that have happened in their lives compared to mine. It made me miss all the times that I used to visit my grandfather while in college and talk about his life and his perspective on this era. They actually complimented me in the end by saying (with wry smiles and twinkles in their eyes :-) "We love that you have decided to join us and to do some honest work ... but could you slow down a little. You are throwing off the curve and making the rest of us look bad!" :-) I love old people. They are so much fun and so full of knowledge and experience in life. I would love to be like them when I grow up. Still spry, happy with life, and willing to continue to serve others.