HERE'S MY BLOG POST YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!

 

People have been asking me why I'm not posting stories to my blog every day.  I'm not picking up trash every day right now.  Well I am, just not on the sidewalks.  I'm cleaning my house.

Tonight was such a good night. I was out almost 5 hours, walked 4 miles, and I picked up 4,019 pieces of trash in five areas.

I saw this very athletic couple walking three dogs down the street.  At the stop sign, a car was turning onto the street, and they had to scramble to keep from getting hit!  I'd never walk my dogs down the street.  Too dangerous.  But I wonder if they do that because there's broken glass on the sidewalks.  Maybe.

There is broken glass on the sidewalks. I was walking Henry & Stella this morning, and at the corner of Aster & Firestone, there was sharp, clear glass under the shade of a tree.  You could hardly see it.  Because I'm always on the lookout, I saw it before either dog got hurt, thank goodness!  It could have been very bad.

I hurried up and took them home and went back and picked up 123 pieces of broken glass on the sidewalk and in the grass, and then I swept up the tiny bits I couldn't pick up with my trash grabber.

Lots and lots of people walk this way to the Firestone Park Splash Pad and the Library.  Am I the only one who knows how to pick up glass?  

That boggles my mind.  After picking up 1,596 piles of broken glass, it still boggles my mind.

Tonight, I headed to Miller & Main, because I drove past this area yesterday, and it was a mess.  My friend, Tom, usually cleans this area, and because he cleaned the exit ramp from Route 8 to Wilbeth Road a week ago, I thought I would return the favor.  When I got there, it was completely clean!  Tom must have cleaned it earlier today.

So I went to the second area on my list.  I picked up 748 pieces of trash at Stanton & Main.  

There are thorny bushes along Main Street by the bus stop.  The trash is so hard to pick out of these bushes, but I got it all done. 

Then I went to Cole & Main.  Got that all cleaned up.  Then Emerling & Main.  Got that all cleaned up.  I was feeling pretty good, covering a lot of ground.

On my way back past the cemetery, I noticed a liquor bottle behind the fence.  Who does something like that with a trash can right there?

I picked up 717 pieces of trash in those two areas.  Lots of cans.  I almost filled up my recycle bin. 

After that, I headed over to the Car Wash where my friends were very busy.  Everybody loves this car wash.  I parked my car across the street and cleaned the football field first.

Do you see all those blue trash cans?  I think there are six of them.  What a great idea!  Unfortunately, there was still a lot of trash all over the ground.  I picked it up and worked my way to all the beer cans that are left here weekly. 

After I smashed all the beer cans, I peeked at the property I used to clean.  There had to be a thousand pieces of trash in the parking lot.  (You need to zoom in.)

I'm not cleaning it anymore, but I've never seen it this bad.  It doesn't take very long to pick it up.  (I bet they're missing me.  They had no idea how much I did for them.)

It's sad, because you can see this parking lot as you drive by on Wilbeth Road.  Trash here makes the whole neighborhood look bad. 

I cleaned all the way to the exit and entrance ramps to Route 8.  I cleaned the sidewalk, but I did not step foot on the exit ramp.  I promised I wouldn't, and I won't.  I sure wanted to, though.

A beautiful 82-year-old woman pulled over to talk to me.  She was stopping traffic, so I asked her to pull onto the next street and I would come over.  She was so nice to talk to.  I remembered her trying to talk to me when I was cleaning the exit ramp about a month ago, but I couldn't hear her because of traffic noise.

I sent her the Channel 3 story, because she said she heard about it, but hadn't seen it.  And then we watched it together.  

I made a new friend! 

I only had an hour left, so I headed to Wilbeth & Arlington and cleaned around the pizza shop.  It was a mess.  I usually clean this area every week, but now the plan is every other week.  I picked up 1,394 pieces of trash on this corner.  That's two bags full!

I walked past the pizza shop and looked at the drive through for the chicken place.  I almost fainted!  Where does all this trash come from?  Why am I the only one who cares?  Who's hungry with all this garbage staring at you as you wait in line?  Wow! 

It didn't take long to clean it, and everybody in the drive through line was watching me.  I wonder what they were thinking.

One guy rolled his window down and asked me how much of Arlington Road I clean. He said he sees me everywhere.  I said, "All of it.  From one freeway to the other."

I was almost back to my car, and I was picking up trash in the parking lot where a car had been parked, and I looked up and saw 12 little eyeballs looking at me! 

There were six little kids in the back of a Jeep Grand Cherokee.  I had to wonder what they were thinking as they watched me pick up trash.  

Maybe they won't throw their napkins out the window.  Maybe.