Earth Day. I remember the first Earth Day (no, not that one where God supposedly created everything about 5,000 years ago--I'm not quite that old!). It was April 22, 1970 and to commemorate the spirit of the day our High School had the teachers head up work groups in our small town in the midst of the Yakima Valley.
We picked up litter (I'm sure the experience proved to be valuable training for some ne'er-do-well members of the work parties), did a bit of painting, pulled weeds, and generally spruced up the place.
After providing about four hours of free labor for the city (and not inexperienced labor, these were farm boys and farm girls!), we dusted our hands together, self-satisfied with our job, as if to say "You're welcome, Earth!"
I imagine Mother Earth probably gasped out a "Yeah. Thanks a lot."