This week’s reason for participating in the CTrides Drive Less CT Climate Challenge: opportunities to participate in feats of strength, or, as some call it, the Carry Shit Olympics.

A story:

I’ve ordered trees from the Arbor Day Foundation in the past. They’re clear about the size and how they’ll be shipped. For the types I’ve gotten, which have all straddled categories — either large shrubs or small trees — they’ve come as bare root and weren’t more than three feet tall. They ship in an awkwardly long, yet lightweight, box.

So, Eversource and the Arbor Day Foundation just unloaded a lot of free trees through the “Energy-Saving Trees Program,” and because utilities are involved we can be super cynical about this another time, but for now, the facts: residents in Hartford, Waterbury, and Willimantic could get a free tree. The restrictions were minimal, with the biggest thing being that the person needed to pick up the tree at the location in town on one day only. There was an interactive component during registration so that the resident could figure out where on their property the tree might fit and also receive best energy savings because trees offer shade reducing need for air conditioning, etc. Residents could also choose from several different types of trees that would reach different maximum heights — so if you’re someone with a small yard or where the last remaining spot for a tree is right under power lines, you could choose appropriately.

I did all the things and even went to the Arbor Day Foundation website to get more details about the species I chose, including to check the size it would be when sent. The option appeared to be bare root only and shipped at 1.5-2 ft. Perfect!

I signed up and sent the information to various friends I know have interest in planting trees, and then, I waited for the day to arrive. My plan was to go get the tree from City Hall on my lunch break and then plant it after work or maybe the next day depending on the weather.

A day or so before pickup, I get an email from the City of Hartford, which was weird since everything else about this was through Eversource and Arbor Day Foundation. The email had information about how residents should drive up on a particular road to make loading easier.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

I read this several times and then fired off an email to ask how those walking were to go about this. There was nothing in the registration that suggested cars were a requirement, and frankly, this felt super strange. Like, someone can afford a car but not a thirteen dollar tree? The response I got was, and I’m paraphrasing: how are you going to pick up a tree without a car. That was the spirit of it.

At this point, I know that even if the tree is being handed off fully grown, I’m going to have to move the damn thing by my own power on principle. And honestly, I don’t do gym shit, so my upper body strength is entirely created by carrying my bags of groceries.

It was a relief that once on site, I only had to deal with the Eversource employees who actually looked like they were used to moving trees around. There was an offer of carrying it for me, and then I explained I was walking so yeah, they probably don’t want to carry this for me that distance. That seemed to be that. Nobody there seemed to blink an eye at me putting this 4+ foot tall tree, already potted — so, heavier than expected — into a cheap shopping bag and walking away.

The fun thing about doing this at lunch time was the size of the audience I had as I schlepped a tree the 1.6 miles home. I loved walking by people openly talking about me as if I were behind soundproof one-way glass. Not sure why they wouldn’t just direct their comments and questions directly to the person carrying a whole ass tree in a bag.

What I truly loved though was how I did not have any near misses with drivers because there’s no way they could get away with claiming that they did not see me. It’s like on rainy days when I wear a bright pink jacket and have a rainbow umbrella. People who would’ve rolled through normally have to stop because they know they would lose the argument about my visibility.

In truth, it wasn’t the heaviest thing to move and definitely did not require a car, and would also have been less effort for someone a bit taller. It was way more awkward potted than if it had been bare root, but it was doable. Could I have taken the bus home faster and with less effort? Absolutely, but then I wouldn’t be able to talk about the time I carried a tree home from downtown and proved that a motor vehicle is a lot less necessary than people think it is.

The next day, my standard grocery shopping seemed dull. Two standard bags with nothing protruding? Yawn.

In their book Active Hope, Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone write: “The power of example is contagious. This is how cultures change.” To be explicit, I am sharing what I do with the intention of showing others what is possible in the hope that they will be able to envision more for themselves, want more for themselves, and then, do.

Riding the bus or walking a half mile with a backpack or a couple tote bags full of groceries? That’s not making a wild ask of most people.