I raked some lawn; I swept some sidewalk; I talked to Howard, who moved here a month ago from China, and whose English is a lot better than my nonexistent Chinese; I had my picture taken as part of the group, but didn’t stay for the pizza (though I did have two donut holes); and I got some exercise and a t-shirt for my efforts.

This was the third time I’ve helped clean up the park and lived to tell about it (not even any soreness the next day), which is good because I signed a waiver that I didn’t read. (Where was there a lawyer when I needed one?)

My best waiver story is from a race I ran in many years ago. The waiver included a clause that said I would be liable for the race promotor’s attorney’s fees if I were the plaintiff in a suit against the promotor as a result of anything arising out of the race. I added language to the effect that I would not be responsible if I were such a plaintiff as a result of being part of a class action. No one challenged my addition, probably because they didn’t even notice it.

One of the other helpers in the park was a young lady who dances in Hamilton and raked before heading for her Saturday matinee, whereas I raked before taking a nap.

Given that the theme of this year’s Earth Day was End Plastic Pollution, it was odd that they had plastic bottles of water for the helpers and were putting garbage into plastic bags, but we’ve only been celebrating Earth Day since 1970, so maybe they’ll get it right in the 50th year, next year.