A friend of mine was complaining that I hadn't been posting frequently enough on here, so I told HIM to write something..  I couldn't be more please with the result...  Thanks Brian!!!

When one is mowing a walking path on a 95 degree day there is little to do but to sweat and think. While mowing in Bob's Woods, I would have various thoughts like; "how long would it take for nature to reclaim the path if no one mowed it?", "will this path be here a 100 years from now?" and "who walks on this path?". The last question leads to more thoughts such as "if volunteers do not mow the path then who would?" and also " I have been on similar paths other places and WHO took care of them?". The "WHO?" is most critical, particularly in a time of budget constraints and cutbacks. The "WHO?" are volunteers that have given 15 minutes, 15 hours or whatever amount of time out of their lives to make the existence of others a little better without the expectation of recognition or compensation other than the feeling of self accomplishment and the thought of  "I did that".
 

Even though I have not volunteered with BR as extensively as I would have liked, my experiences with the group have been humbling. Volunteering itself is a very humbling and equalizing experience where one is not defined by their name, degree, title, profession or any of the other criteria in which society places "value". In the instance of volunteering, the "value" is in the action itself, making someone's life just a little bit or often to the recipent themselves, a WHOLE lot better. I speak of being humbled because as most people of my generation we focus on important issues like :  "I want a new car", "I want a vacation" or "I want my student loans paid off".  Compared to some of the issues faced by people that BR has helped, my "wants" and "needs" are pretty insensitive considering there are people in our community (not to mention the world) with leaking roofs, no food and other struggles with day to day living that is often taken for granted by myself (and hopefully by others also so I don't sound like such a jerk).
 

Nate asked me to write a "little something" when I was complaining that he has not blogged lately, so I have to stop and summarize my thoughts before they wander too far off track. In summary, if  I.. you... whoever... does not volunteer... then who will?  Volunteer, because in the words of the angelic Martha Stewart "It's a good thing"...

**You can follow Brian on Twitter @BubbaCarey