For grad students like myself, springtime means final papers. 30+ pages of academic writing is not exactly compatible with frolicking in the newly warm weather or blogging or having a life at all. But I am delighted to say that I am almost finished. All that remains is a quick review and fixing up footnotes and the bibliography. Tedious, but nothing major. Not like having to write 30+ pages of academic writing–which I have done! Yay! 

Or about 300+ pages of a romance novel. I have a book to write, too–which I have not done. Yet. 

But springtime also means flowers and trees in bloom! For me, it also means planting trees. A million of them, in fact. In my town of New York City we have a plan to plant a million trees by 2017. Trees help us breath and relax, they raise our property values, and they fight global warming. They also don’t plant themselves.

So I joined New York Restoration Project at one of their tree planting days (you can participate too!). Between this year and last year, I have planted 4 of the 175,000 trees planted so far. It feels more satisfying than finishing a final paper. Come back here tomorrow for a step-by-step account of a little pear tree I planted in Queens.