WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE DAY!

 

What an absolutely incredible day!  First, I happened to notice that Keep Akron Beautiful posted a story about me reaching 500,000 pieces on their Facebook page.  I don't even know why I was looking at their Facebook page, but it was a wonderful story!  Thank you so much!

After that, a news reporter from Channel 5 saw it, and she called me to see if she could have an interview on Sunday.  I told her YES and I can't wait!  The first time I was on TV, I was very nervous.  I've been picking up trash almost every day for over a year now.  I have nothing to be nervous about anymore.

After that, the CEO from Keep America Beautiful in Connecticut sent me an amazing video message and said I picked up trash equal to what 3,290 people pick up!  Wow!  She invited me to take part in a cleanup happening in Cleveland on April 6.  

A day just doesn't get any better than this!

At lunchtime, I cleaned up the exit ramp from Route 8 to Wilbeth Road.  I noticed it looked bad again driving home last night.  Then I crossed the street and cleaned up the entrance ramp.  Altogether, I picked up 900 pieces.

A good friend told me the exit ramp from 76 to Arlington Road was HORRIBLE.  So as soon as I got off work, I went there to see how HORRIBLE it actually was.  I parked my car as close as I could to the exit ramp and cleaned up all the trash in this big vacant lot.  (I saw a For Sale sign.  Maybe it will sell now that it's clean!)

Between the vacant lot and the exit ramp, there is a low-income apartment building.  Could it be any worse?  Both are notorious for having a lot of trash.

No disappointment here.  There was a whole lot of trash.  Ick!

I got all that cleaned up and still hadn't gotten a peek at the exit ramp that was supposed to be HORRIBLE.

There was a man sitting in his car near the dumpster.  He rolled down his window and said, "Hey, aren't you the lady who picks up trash on Wilbeth Road?"  I told him that was me.  He said, "You're really getting around.  Thank you for what you're doing."

He had no idea all I was doing, especially for him.  I picked up three 2" screws around his car.   Each time, I showed him one of them, he just shook his head.  He said, "The last thing I need is a flat tire!"

I get so much joy out of finding nails and screws before they cause an accident.

 I finally made it to the exit ramp, and my friend was right.  There is a lot of trash, but there's also a lot of room for me to work without getting hit by a car.  

It's actually a very beautiful exit ramp, or it will be . . .

I'll have this whole area all cleaned up tomorrow.  Won't my friend be surprised when she drives to work on Monday?  

She said it was HORRIBLE.  Waterloo Road was HORRIBLE.  Main Street is HORRIBLE.  This is not HORRIBLE.

The trash has been mowed over several times.  That tells me that most of the trash is not new, and once I get it all cleaned up, it will be easy to keep clean.

I picked up 4,136 pieces of trash today, and even though it was cold and rainy, I was smiling.

Today was a very good day!  And tomorrow will be even better!