Lands End

The company I work for encourages its employees to do at least two volunteer activities each year, so after perusing several listings at VolunteerMatch, last Saturday Thom (who was a dear to join me) and I dropped in on an ongoing project called Lands End Stewardship, one of the many volunteer programs of the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy. Lands End is a section of park area at the northwest corner of San Francisco, with an amazing view of the ocean (no shortage of great ocean views around here). We joined a fairly large group of volunteers that did planting and weeding along a trail that leads from the parking lot at the cheerily named Merrie Way (Google map). It’s kind of nice to think that we can come back as the plants grow bigger and say, we planted these!

The Conservancy loves its volunteers and really has its act together. They had all the gear that we needed — I wish I had a photo of us in our bright blue rain pants — and they even fed us: pastries beforehand and soup and bread afterwards. The leaders were enthusiastic, and we had a good time. To be honest I went in thinking it would be kind of a drag, but it turned out to be a really interesting and rewarding experience. We’ll be back for sure.