Today my husband and I went to volunteer at the local forest preserves, cutting down and burning buckthorn. See the photo above? On the left is forest that has been cleared of buckthorn. You can see through the trees; it seems airy and bright and now other species can grow around the trees. But on the right is the dark, scary forest that we're just starting to work on. Most of it is buckthorn. It can have two-inch thorns. Apparently buckthorn emits a poisonous substance that affects the ability of frogs to spawn (and limits native plants growth, too.) 

One good thing is that it's sponsored by the Shedd Aquarium, because there is a very special rare spotted frog species that is adversely affected by the invasive buckthorn. Don't ask me the name of the species, because it's special to someone at the Shedd. Not necessarily to me! But after the work, someone from the Shedd pulls out burning logs from the fire, sets a grill on top and give us fire-grilled hot dogs and s'mores. So we keep coming back, ever since Covid started. Those are my boots and my loppers, on the left of the photo below.

It was really hard labor (sawing down small trees and cutting them down to bonfire size) and I guess I jazzed myself up. Right now I'm unable to sit or lie down. I've been on my feet for most of the day because when I lay down or stop, I get horribly jittery. It's not settling down. BUT I took two snoozes, 20 minutes, and they weren't toxic. Progress is progress!