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#23 - participate in a large-scale/group service project

Can you believe I'm actually making this post on the SAME DAY that I checked off the goal?  I can't.  I still haven't blogged about things I did over the summer, but I made my last goal the "document everything" kind so that I would ensure that I would, eventually, get them all covered.

Living so close to the Everglades, Ricky and I have some pretty amazing parks and reserves nearby.  We don't take advantage of them as often as we should (read: never), but I'm always grateful to be in such a beautiful place!  One of the nearby state parks was in need of a cleanup, so our church organized a Mormon Helping Hands service day for this morning and extended an open invitation to the community.  There were hundreds of people there today!  Even FL governor Rick Scott showed up for some photo ops (with a lot of snide remarks between Ricky and myself about how he didn't do any actual work, of course).  The kick-off for the cleanup was at 7:00, but Ricky and I stayed up too late watching Boy Meets World and overslept.  Oops.

We wound up getting there at 9:30 or so and spent about 30 minutes wandering aimlessly and jumping in with random groups.  (This is the hazard of missing the initial team organization.)  A park ranger finally announced that he would be taking a team down the nature trail to remove some invasive species, and so we tagged along and soon found ourselves tugging vines of rosary pea off palm fronds and riverbanks.  I was eager to try my hand at one of the axes/chainsaws that they were using to cut down the invasive trees, but...well, imagine me with a chainsaw.  Exactly.

 
Here we are, about to leave for the park.  This is Ricky's invisible shovel.


Koreshan State Park!  There's a dubiously spelled but entertaining anecdote about its historical origins.
Ricky standing triumphantly after piling some felled trees.  You go, Ricky.
The camera was wrestled from me for this picture.  I had nothing to do with those trees.
I was totally keen on making a bench!  Have I mentioned I harbor a secret desire to be a carpenter?  No, really.
Pulling rosary pea from giant bamboo stalks.
Don't let me trick you into thinking the temperature has cooled down here--I'm only wearing pants and long sleeves to avoid ticks, poison ivy, and thorns.  I saw a lot of scratched-up arms around me, so I was glad I did!
Before...
...and after removal!  The rosary pea is an invasive vine that branches out everywhere, so it made the entire area look more full.
The pile removed from that one area.
Bamboo graffiti!

Despite being super late and not getting t-shirts (isn't that the whole reason why people go to these things?), Ricky and I had a lot of fun communing with nature and helping to beautify our state.

One more goal down!

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