Yesterday, I spent my afternoon planting trees. One of my friends, Singer Girl, works for a local television station. That station teamed up with the local board of realtors for a project called Replanting Alabama. The goal for this project is to replant trees in areas that were hit hard by the April 27 tornadoes. On that day, the tornadoes came in waves throughout the state. Although many know of the devastation wrought on the afternoon and evening of April 27, not as many know of the ones that came through that morning. So, Singer Girl rounded up some of her friends to participate in the project. Given that I actually love to plant things it was only natural that I said "Sign me up!"
The Cahaba Heights area, southeastish of Birmingham was hit particularly hard just shy of 6 a.m that morning. If you look at the houses in the background of this picture, before the tornadoes, you could only see the ones that directly faced the street. You certainly couldn't see the sky in the background. This neighborhood was built in the 1950s-1960s and had a very well established canopy of trees. That is definitely not the case now.
So, yesterday this group of volunteers planted 25 trees. And next Sunday, 25 more will be planted, and the Sunday after that, and the next one. Its a small thing, and it will take years before these trees mature to the point where they actually fill in for some of those that were lost on April 27. But its a start.
The longest journey starts with a single step. Those 50 trees will make a huge difference, and not only in a few years when they bloom, but now, as people start building back up.
ReplyDeleteA thoughtful and caring gift, and a gift that will live on and on. Knowing that someone cares will lift the spirits of those most affected.
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