What a joy to spend the day together at Banyan Grove yesterday, in service to our community land, space, and inner and outer landscapes!

Here's a few photos -- including our group one (where we'll photoshop Ari in:))! Feel free to add yours.




At the start of the day, Sanved noted, "Service is contributing to society in some way," and Lena reflected, "It's when you give without expecting anything in return." Aligned with that spirit, Helen and Pragalbha quickly got to work in the kitchen, prepping a gourmet lunch for the day's crew, as Ubin and Karuna graciously joined for couple hours before their other July 4th festivities and Kozo and Fox arrived ready-for-anything! Then, Birju, Anne-Marie, Iver, and Ari arrived, adding a boost of energy to the whole crew!

By the time the morning ended, almost our green bins were brimming with tall grass, Kozo befriended a praying mantis, intriguing long-forgotten items were being uncovered from the shed, a new table was assembled and already in use -- put together by Sanved and Fox (who also did a brilliant clean-up job)!

At lunch, we were graced by Helen/Pragalbha's epic love-filled feast. Arnav and Manish rolled in after driving two hours in traffic (fresh off the coattails of Arnav's school club service event)! As we rolled into the afternoon, Manish, Kozo, Lena, Anne-Marie got busy weeding -- further transforming the back garden beds and grassy slope! Pragalbha/Helen made the kitchen spotless, while Arnav asked Birju some tough questions about his journey and the money system :) as they and Ari made the shed spotless, Kozo put up some spiffy new paintings, Fox and Sanved cleaned up an oil painting, and everyone became Iver's new best friend. :)



Closing out the day, Birju led us in a circle of reflections -- where we heard insights like "Action fueled by genuine love is effortless." And "Service isn't always service," as Arnav contrasted his experience in two different service events.



Thank you, for your spirit of service -- and the joy of coming together in such ways. Can't think of a better way to spend our Interdependence Day. :)