THIS JULY 4TH . . . I KILLED IT!

 

What a great July 4th I had!  

Would I have preferred stuffing my face at a cookout?  You bet I would, but doing something for my community is what I decided to do.  I read that when you don't have family for holidays, volunteer.  So that's what I did.

I saw this sweet little girl playing with a cat in such a gentle, loving way.  I had no idea cats could be so gentle. 

(Yes, I picked up all the trash around her.) 

The first place I went tonight was the exit ramp southbound from Route 8 to Wilbeth Road.  

I saw it was really messy, but I wasn't sure I wanted to clean it.  The grass was all grown up on the inside of the guard rail where I stand, and this is such a busy exit ramp, and it was so hot and blah, blah, blah.   

"Quit whining!"  (That's what I told myself.)

I picked up 591 pieces of trash at this exit ramp, and most likely, it'll need cleaned again tomorrow or Sunday, but that's okay.  It looks really nice now and lots of people thanked me and offered me water.  I stayed close to the guard rail, so I survived.

After that, I went to the football field.  I saw more beer cans, and I got that all cleaned up.

I saw all these papers that had blown into the bushes.  I don't like picking up papers.   Picking up pieces of glass with my trash grabber is actually easier than paper.

And I found a bag of hot dog buns that didn't make it to the cookout!  Wonder why.

As I was heading to my car, I saw this little picnic by the road, on the sewer drain!  Ick!

I was almost done, only had 33 minutes left, and I thought I'd head over to an area I hadn't cleaned for a while, because I thought somebody who lived there was picking up the trash.

I was wrong  It was a mess.  I picked up 2,614 pieces of trash in two hours, so I was out way longer than I planned. 

There was so much glass!  This was on the sidewalk where small children are playing!  "Parents?  Where are you?"

I cleaned that up and gave the picture to the kids who were watching me carefully.  I wonder if they wonder why their parents didn't clean up the broken glass.  

And there was glass all over the parking lot, along with bolts and nails and screws.  There was a man sitting in a shiny black Cadillac, tinted windows up, parked at an angle so nobody could bump his doors.  A little boy walked over and knocked on the window, and the window came down.  I was right there and I said, "I picked up 15 nails, bolts and screws in this parking lot."  You should have seen his eyes get wide!  It was priceless!

People think trash is unfortunate, but they won't pick up a napkin.  They think broken glass is an eyesore, but they won't sweep it up.  Maybe this guy will think about looking around for nails the next time he parks here. 

And there was a big mess of broken glass from someone smashing a car window.  I wonder how many years this would have laid there?  Kids were riding their scooters all over this parking lot.  What a shame.

One little boy, about 12 years old, circled my trash cart when I was picking up the glass.  He watched me carefully, and then he pulled out a big wad of dollar bills from his pocket.  He took two dollars off the stack and gave them to me.  "Here's for picking up the glass.  You deserve it."   

What a sweet young man!  He said he's been selling water.  

Maybe I shouldn't have taken his money, but I think it would have hurt his feelings if I hadn't.

I got that smash & grab all cleaned up so the kids can ride their scooters a little safer.   I hope they see the difference and make an effort to keep it clean.  

What a great day!  I picked up 4,577 pieces of trash in 4 1/2 hours.   

I found all these coins, all these bolts and nails and screws, and a little boy gave me $2 for picking up the glass in his parking lot.

It doesn't get any better than today.