VOLUNTEER: With all our knowledge and technology, we have developed many bad habits in modern society that take an emotional, mental, physical and spiritual toll on us.

Volunteering and spending time in nature have been shown to have positive impacts on all of the above.

There are several state parks and forests in our area where you can do just that.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources website, there are many ways volunteers can help involving different skills:

• help create/clean/repair trails and wildlife habitats

• perform maintenance on bridges and recreational areas

• be a “live-in” host at a campground

• help with programs at parks and visitors centers

• assist with general engineering or computer database projects

• volunteer to help with fire prevention programs at schools

• assist in researching the history of forests and parks

People can volunteer directly with the state park or forest of choice by contacting the facility directly. Many also apply to become DCNR Conservation Volunteers or volunteer through the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation or through a Friends group.

FREEDOM:“On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence calling for freedom from Britain,” the Associated Press reports.

That simple act, one statement asserting our power to govern ourselves, changed the path of the world.

No one could have guessed that from that seed, that first “calling for freedom,” the United States of America would grow into the nation it is today.

We’ll be celebrating a symbol of that freedom on Thursday, which is Flag Day.