This day has been a gift. One of those full circle days. I got to wake up next to a great woman, kiss her goodbye and head off to do something for the greater good. I hit Ruth Ann’s for breakfast and stopped by the office to pick up a camera. Dozens of us gathered at Dinglewood Park across the street from Will Barnes’ fabulous office to plant trees in the spaces left vacant by a tornado that went through this part of town a couple of years ago.

Girl Scouts, Rotarians, Trees Columbus staffers and some folks from the Columbus Scholars program planted a Yoshino cherry, some weeping willows, Shumard oaks, loblolly pines and a couple of other species I don’t remember. The crowd gathered up toward the back of a pickup truck and Dorothy and Ashley from Tree Columbus and Chris from the Georgia Forestry Commission took turns standing on the tailgate preaching to the “green” assembly.

Everyone pitched in and we got all the trees in the ground. It was quite an event and I think everyone left there with a great sense of accomplishment. It was a beautiful day. Many of the people who left the Dinglewood Park planting project headed on over to Lakebottom for the city’s official Arbor Day event. I hooked up with Jeff Hudson and after we collected a few trees, we left for Uptown for lunch. Today is Jeff’s birthday. If you know him, make sure you Facebook him a birthday greeting.

I planted all five of the trees I took home and did a few more chores around the house. It felt good to do some manual labor today to be around so many people I like. I’m still smiling.