In which we don't always "opt outside" but I'm so happy when we do

REI started it.

Linda Brown took the idea and ran with it.

Here at Haiku Farm, we're big fans.

#optoutside :  go outdoors and be useful instead of buying junk on Black Friday

Often, the weather on Thanksgiving Weekend is frightful, but when it isn't, Linda calls a trail work party and we show up.

Don't let the beautiful sunlight fool you:  air temp is way below freezing, and that mud is COLD!

A swampy bit of trail.

Today's task:  pull the logs out of the trail, pull the mud out of the pit made by the logs, and dig a ditch for a 12" metal culvert.

Santa Jim was literally knee-deep in boot-sucking mud

We chopped, dug, scraped, sawed...and then dug and scraped a bit more.

Linda's ditch, diverting water the drains off the hillside into the culvert
(which will be inserted into the ditch behind where she is standing in the photo)

We all walked down to the work site wearing several layers of warm clothing...

Scraping mud is hard work--it's HEAVY!

...but we warmed up fast.

I took a picture of the crew standing on high ground when we were done

Did you opt outside?  Share your stories!