Shade Tree Wisdom 6/1/11

We are still dry along the Gulf Coast, but an item in the paper this morning reminds us that Allison dumped 26 inches of rain on some areas around the Gulf in less than twenty four hours. So we do best to let the weather situation in the hands of God who created it all.

In 1998, dissatisfied with the job being done with keeping the Vietnam Memorial Wall clean of bird droppings etc,Jan Scruggs, of the Veteran’s Memorial Fund, took action. He began by giving 37 toothbrushes to visiting vets from Wisconsin and they cleaned the wall. Other organizations, church groups, boy scouts and just volunteers show up at 6:30 Saturday and Sunday each week to scrub the memorial clean of the dust, bird droppings, fingerprints, and wash the walk.

“It’s a show of respect, for they are not just names, they are people who gave their lives. We consider it an honor to keep the memorial pristine”.

All they use is water, some mild detergent, and soft brushes. It takes about an hour.

It is heartening to note such an article in the daily paper. This spirit of volunteerism, doing the thing that I see needs doing without being told, or being paid for it, often is missing in our day of “What’s in it for me”, isn’t it. And that is a sad commentary on our age.

GPD 6/1/11