What do you do?

By Allie Watson

I get this question more frequently than I anticipated.  After receiving the “What do you do?” question one more time I decided to take pictures one day of what I do. 

My day, like most moms, begins with a minor juggling act of lunch boxes, permission slips, reminders and $2 for field trips so I took a selfie on the way to school drop-off to show the put-together version of our morning routine.  (The pre-show would be an entirely different blog)

That morning I was meeting one of our trustees, Barbara Zaugg Joudrey for a couple site visits with potential grantees in southern Richland County. Our first visit was with Donna Davoracek, director of Mohican School in the Out of Doors where we learned about greenhouses for kids to grow their own food and learn the process of gardening.  We did this while standing on top of the building which is covered in grass so I thought it appropriate to take a selfie of us in front of the sign that reads, “DANGER: Do not climb on the roof”. 

I made the mistake of wearing my work shoes for this visit as I thought we were going into the building instead of on top of it.  I did a quick change in the parking lot into hiking shoes for our next stop with Eric Miller, director of North Central Ohio Land Conservancy on part of the Clear Fork Valley Scenic Trail.  If you’ve never hiked with someone who knows more than you about plants and birds and insects, I highly recommend it.  I’m used to hiking with small children who think I know everything but listening to Eric get excited about the rare scarlet tanager which flew past our heads mid-conversation or the invasive garlic mustard plants was fascinating.  I snapped a couple pictures in the woods of a log I didn’t cross and plants I couldn’t identify but the best part is the smiling faces because it was a great and informative time!

When I came back to town I switched shoes in the RCF parking lot in true Mr. Rogers fashion and attended two more meetings where I forgot to take pictures.  These two other meetings were with smart people, representing meaningful organizations and I hope to partner with them on future grants, unfortunately, I forgot about the blog idea and left my phone in my purse.

The moral of the story is the majority of what I do is in meetings and behind a computer screen but often I receive invitations from nonprofit organizations asking if I want to see what they’re doing and the answer is always, “ABSOLUTELY!”