by Lisa Wallace, Executive Director
Before the recession, it seemed like there was a trend to create “passive” income, outsource routine tasks, and then become a ski or beach bum while the money piled up in the bank.
The idea seemed to be that doing less work was good.
It is so tempting isn’t it?
But there’s another way: doing things by hand and really caring about the work you do.
This is the way of the old craftsman who creates something useful, beautiful, and meaningful. Something to enrich your life.
This is the way of the writer who pours her soul into a novel, not to crank out a best-seller every year but to change the way someone sees the world.
This is the way of someone who works not just to get a paycheck, but to make a contribution, to do work she’s proud of, to create something powerful in the world.
This is the way of the people who monitor our creeks and streams in the Truckee watershed as part of Adopt-A-Stream. Each one puts in more effort than is required. They volunteer and take the time to be trained (two hours), to take samples (4 days a year, 2-3 hours each day), and complete field surveys (2 pages). They do it because from that effort is created meaning.
Join us for Adopt-A-Stream Team Leader Training – learn by heart how to protect the Truckee River and all our creeks and streams. We need your help, your passion, your connection to our river.
Life is so short. Adopt-A-Stream is the opportunity to use some of the brief time you have on something that matters to you – and that will matter to those who come after you.
Thank you to the donors of the Truckee River Watershed Council for funding our 15 Adopt-A-Stream teams.
Image: Sagehen Creek – Volunteers take water samples on Adopt-a-Stream Snapshot Day. Credit: Joel Erikson.