Want a cure for cynicism? Try digging holes and planting trees.

A tree planting volunteer consults with Openlands treekeeper Floyd during a tree planting event in Chicago recently. — Chicago Tribune/TNS

I SPENT the last Saturday in September digging and standing in holes. I walked home sore and sweaty but happy. And buoyed against the naysaying that goes hand in hand with living in a complicated city.

Dozens of people showed up at Athletic Field Park in Chicago’s Irving Park neighbourhood that morning for a mass tree planting. They picked up shovels and swung dirt to bring verdant new life to the parkways of the streets nearby. The old proverb is still true: It takes a village to make a difference. It takes people showing up.