Five of us Thursday Hikers did volunteer work yesterday picking up all kinds of debris in a wetland and fields from the tornado that hit last Saturday. It was good to get out of town today and away from the destruction in town and just go hiking at Mt Tom. We missed Joe who was at home waiting for insurance adjusters to have a look at his roof. It was both windy and cold, so the nice long climbs, and ice and snow free trails had us continually moving along at a good pace. It felt really good. With no other dogs along, Sukee amused herself by carrying sticks. It felt good to just focus on the trail ahead, quietly appreciating the Mt Tom outcrops of basalt that are always so beautiful and interesting. Once back down at Bray Lake, we discovered that Anna and Jason must have had a picnic there not so long ago:) Lunch was at Maple Valley Coop where I had black bean and corn tamale, green beans, and garlic fingerling potatoes. Weird, but good. It’s a hot meal bar, so I just filled my plate with what looked good to (a very hungry) me. There was also a tomato cabbage soup that I hear was delicious and Tom’s BLT looked mighty good. Next week’s hike will be at Joe Herrick’s Gulf in Conway where we hear there is extensive tornado damage. Tony and I will scout it out tomorrow and also think about possibilities for some way to help clean it up. Someone in town has anonymously donated $50,000 to the tornado relief fund and other money is flowing in. It will certainly take a lot of it to fix up “what’s broke”. Happy Month of March when Spring will arrive!!! Love, Penny 
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