Plant Sales

'Tis the season for plant sales on Saturday mornings. Garden clubs, libraries, and other organizations collect perennials from their members. A team of volunteers prices the plants and labels the unnamed ones. They move flat after flat onto tables that have been carried out to the parking lot for the event. Another team of volunteer saleswomen stands ready.

As with any yard sale (this one literally from people's yards), early birds mill around until a nearby steeple bell chimes 9:00, and the land rush is on.

These fund-raising (and fun-raising too) events all exist on the generosity of volunteers and of donors. When the dizzying morning comes to a close, the organization is richer by a thousand dollars or two to put toward their particular public service.

Although buying inexpensive plants is fun, the volunteers are serving from the bottom of their hearts. Those who give of their time or of their plants have opened their hearts; they reap the joy of practicing kindness.