Sprucing Up in the TP

It takes a lot to get me out of bed before 9am on a Saturday. Hell, me being up before noon on any given weekend is just shy of a miracle. So if I'm going to get up, it had better be good. And for a good cause. And I'd better get a free bagel out of it too, dammit. Well, every so often, the unlikely happens and I wake up early. Through Hands on Bay Area, the BF and I get a chance to do good and spruce up our neighborhood. Twin Peaks is the second highest hill in SF, draws a lot of tourists at the lookout area up top, and is literally our backyard. HoBA volunteers team up with REI and the SF Recreation and Park Department to clean up and restore the hilltop, which is the indigenous home to lots of plants and wildlife, but most notably to the endangered Mission Blue Butterfly. Basically, we spend about 3-4 hours pulling weeds. The first time we did it, it was cold, wet, and extremely windy. My hands and feet were frozen and my knees were soaked and muddy. This last time was the polar opposite. It was unseasonably hot weather and, tugging at those roots, we were sweatin' big time. The BF even busted a shoe. It sounds miserable from the way I've described it, but it's actually a lot of fun. We learn a lot about the local animal, bird, and plant life, and we get to meet cool people who live in the area too. It's a pretty satisfying feeling--toiling away and then taking a look around you. You get to see how much you've accomplished and how different the landscape looks. Definitely worth getting up early for on a Saturday morning.



1. Snapped a few of the other volunteers; 2. Tugging at those pesky radishes; 3. Filet of sole (the BF's busted shoe); 4. Looking up the hillside.