guilt-free

i got up bright and early this morning to plant a tree. our school was chosen by "magandang umaga, bayan" to be part of their tree-planting activity at the la mesa watershed as part of their month-long anniversary celebration. the idea of appearing on television is always an attractive come-on to kids (especially their parents). so off we went, 18 kids, teachers and stage parents.

planting a tree is not too difficult, if you paid attention to the briefing well.

1. find stick marker by dug hole
2. remove plastic bag from seedling base
3. place seedling into hole, leaf side up
4. replace soil into hole, making sure not to go beyond the seedling's "soil level" - there's a scientific explanation to this
5. lightly pack replaced soil with your foot
6. place torn plastic bag on stick marker or get fined P500 and dig out seedling again

nothing to it! together with the staff of m.u.b., we were able to plant a total of 400 trees today. that's practically a mini-forest! i've always considered myself a closet environmentalist, so this activity totally appeals to me. today was a "feel good" day. i look forward to doing it again... and again... and again.

let's see... i have about 4 adopted trees to my name at the la mesa watershed. they say that it takes 10 trees to clean the pollution emitted by 1 car. with all the trees we planted today, i can drive my car in peace for now.