…an Earth day recap
And what a glorious Earth Day it was... sun shining bright, a warm April day, with a beautiful blue sky. I took my daily stroll down Railroad Run, but this time, with a large brown paper shopping bag in hand. It has become an Earth Day ritual of mine to tidy up a small portion of my world. Along the way I collected the usual items, discarded water bottles, to-go coffee cups, lids, plastic bags, bottle tops, a juice box, an empty potato chip bag, and a crushed can. I found a blue sharpie with no cap, and maybe that’s why someone was compelled to toss it. Continuing on, I came upon a party theme… instructions on how to put together a kids bicycle, a flyer for a preschool celebration, and a wrapper for some button candy in gourmet flavors. I wondered why they were grouped, was it a random coincidence, or some wild weather that brought them together? I found a rolled up pair of socks and a navy tank top, which would have been really cute if it hadn’t weathered the winter and been run over by a car, or two. But it was the blue wool beret, that really got my attention. I was thinking that the chapeau was not a deliberate toss, but a misfortune and next fall someone was going to wonder where it went. I added it to my bag. It seems that no trash collection is complete without an empty glass pint of whiskey, and I added one that said “very special” on it… I think that is a matter of opinion. There were a few things that I was quite sure had been deliberately left behind, including the plastic bags with the dog poop, which goes without saying, I didn’t have gloves and I wasn’t prepared to get involved in that, so I left that for another day. The top of a styrofoam cooler I had spotted at the beginning of my stroll, but decided to wait until the walk back to pick it up… I knew it would still be there. My bag was getting heavy, as I tucked this large piece under my arm. As the wind started to pick up, the styrofoam acted as a mini sail pushing me back and forth, creating a little tension to my stride. Stops and starts, I understand that rhythm well, as it propelled me along, I went with it, which is what I try to do in life. It seems to work out best. When I returned home I emptied my bag, sorting recyclables, and those clearly not. It gave me some satisfaction that I cleaned up my immediate landscape a bit, and my finds no longer littered my view, but knowing that they are only to be relocated… and to where? To clutter someone else’s view? Or to be buried into our Mother Earth, for her to feel the pain?
I wrote this after my Earth Day stroll 2018, I didn’t take any photos (very unusual for me) this photo is from 2022…maybe I’ll write the sequel…”One glove”
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