Let’s Leave this Place Better than we Found It by Bill Wofford
With encouragement from my Eagle Scout dad, and with my big brother as a role model, I spent several years in the 70s and 80s as a Boy Scout. Weekly troop meetings in a church basement, marching in full uniform in the Memorial Day parade, selling Christmas wreaths in the annual fundraiser, skipping the bus and jogging to school to earn the physical fitness merit badge — all the things.
But the best parts were definitely the camping trips.
We’d study the maps, pack our gear (don’t forget to check the batteries in the flashlights), sharpen knives and hatchets, try to outdo the other patrols with our carefully planned menus, and pray it wouldn’t rain. Or freeze. We’d wake up well before dawn, grab an egg sandwich from the deli at the meetup spot, and caravan in station wagons a few hours upstate until we found our way to a trailhead in the Catskills or Adirondacks.
With full packs and canteens we’d set off on the first hike. Armed with maps and compasses — and guided or misguided by sometimes elusive trail blazes on trees — we would eventually find our appointed spot in the wilderness. Packs dropped, the race was on to pitch tents in choice spots, gather firewood, explore the area, and get cracking on a hot meal.
Culinary wonders of the woods, s’mores, and campfire stories would finish the day. The next one might include another hike to a mountaintop or swimming hole, games, whittling, practicing knots and what-not, and putting on well-worn, dad-joke-laden skits to equal parts laughter and groans.
All too soon — unless it was raining or freezing, in which case none too soon — it was time to reload the packs, retrace our steps, and return home.
But not before completing the most important task of all: cleaning up the campsite and preparing it for the next visitors, making very sure we left the place in better shape than we found it. We took real pride in demonstrating how seriously we took that responsibility. Who knows — follow the right trail and you might still find some neatly stacked firewood.
As we get ready to pack up Yoga Garden and move on to the next chapter, I find myself returning to that simple scouting lesson: leave the place better than you found it.
One way we’ve tried to do that over the years is by tending to our neighboring waterways. This time, we’ll work even closer to our Yoga Garden home. The little creek that borders our parking lot flows about a hundred yards before joining Robeson Creek which meanders east before joining the Haw River. So one last time, the Yoga Garden community will participate in the Haw River Clean-Up-A-Thon.
On Saturday, March 21 — the vernal equinox — we’ll be removing trash along the Robeson Creek Greenway. If you (and maybe a family member or friend) feel like pitching in, come join us at 9am at the entrance to the Greenway on South Small Street. You can park along the street or enjoy a 5 minute hike along the well-marked trail from Yoga Garden.
Please let us know you’re coming by dropping an email to hello@yogagardenpbo.com.
Interested in helping but the timing doesn’t work? Check out the Haw River Assembly, which has organized this Clean-Up-A-Thon for more than 35 years and does lots of other good work:
https://www.hawriver.org/
And if you’re looking to mark the seasonal shift of the vernal equinox in a more inward way, join Lexie and me for our next Kriya Yoga Journey this Saturday. At last check, there were still a few spots left.
As with our other journeys, this will be a carefully crafted blend of breathwork, movement, and sound. Whether you’re one of our Kriya regulars or a curious first-timer, don’t hesitate to register — these one-of-a-kind events consistently sell out.
However you choose to mark the changing season, thank you for helping make this place — and this community — better than we found it.
