cherry street
L and I are going to start volunteering at Reflection Riding next weekend. It’ll just be helping out in the nursery for a few hours, potting plants and such, but I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be a great chance to get him some exposure to that environment, to make some connections in the organization, and what’s more, to get to participate in taking care of the natural side of things, restoring creation just a little bit.
L’s never volunteered for anything on a regular basis, and I’ve not done so in longer than I care to admit. I always consider myself at anyone’s beck and call when it come to cars repairs or advice, genuinely happy to offer pro bono help, and that’s something I’ve done through the years when the occasion called for it. All the way back in middle school, one morning a week, my mom loaded my two brothers and I in the station wagon and we drove around delivering hot meals to people as part of the Meals on Wheels program in Durham, NC. Most of the addresses were in some pretty rough neighborhoods, and not everyone was grateful when we knocked on their door and handed them the food. Still, I look back on that experience very fondly. I felt a little awkward, but never unsafe as long as my mom and brothers were there, and some of the folks were incredibly sweet, and so thankful to just see another human being. I doubt some of them got many, if any, visitors, and I really did hate to disengage when it was clear they just wanted to talk and we had to deliver the next meal. I remember daytime TVs on in the background, tall grass, fences and bars on windows and doors, piles of unopened mail on doorsteps, old trees, musty smells and people, just people, trying to make their way in the world like we all are. I really did enjoy it, and I’m unsure why I’ve not followed up since with any official volunteering efforts. It would cross my mind from time to time, but I’d always tell myself that my kids were the front lines, as it were, of any kind of selflessness I put forth—which is true, but it’s not an either-or proposition, and I regret not demonstrating that beyond the walls of the house until now. Hopefully our time at Reflection Riding will be a small step toward making that right. Is it going to be awkward for this introvert? Yep! Will I waltz in and set the place on fire with my natural charisma? Nope! But I’ll do my best and be, if nothing else, another warm body and pair of hands helping out.