Spending the last day of fall at Sheldon Lake

Before the bus arrived, I walked out on a boardwalk for a look about.

The Friday before Christmas was the last day of the year for planting with students and Wetlands Restoration Team volunteers at Sheldon Lake State Park.


Teens in rubber boots planted two species of Cordgrass on the outer banks of Pond Anhinga, which is off a road that is closed to the public. 

On Wednesday I had helped the wetlands team get 1,400 sprigs ready for the student volunteers, but this was the first time I had been part of a planting detail. I am a newbie volunteer who joined in mid November.

I managed to stay on my feet while wading in the muck in my three-sizes-too-big rubber boots that I bought at a garage sale. Buddy Diane H. showed me how to use the dibble, and we made our way around the pond.

Most of the kids were veterans planters who had been on a planting mission a month earlier. When one of the coordinators asked who were inexperienced, I raised my hand along with the girl in skirt. And she turned out to be an enthusiastic worker who said she would like to work at Sheldon Lake. When a ranger joked that she could come back early Saturday morning to clean the rubber boots, she just laughed and waved.

In 90 minutes the sprigs had new homes along the pond thanks to the teens.

But there are no photos because I was afraid I would make a splash down so I left my phone in a safe, dry place.