I fixed up a very treacherous but frequently used shortcut in my backyard in the winter of 2007. As it’s steward for about three months (until I moved away), I repaired a barn door that was in the way, put gravel on the path, and put up a chalkboard and shelf on the barn next to the path. I left out chalk and hung a bucket of extra gravel on a bucket hung from the wall. I started baking and putting out a large jar of cookies a few times a week, using the chalkboard to indicate the kind of cookies. I did all this in secret. People always ate the cookies, and took to writing kind notes to me (not knowing who I was), to each other, and to whomever used the shortcut.

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