Or, Litter Pickup: January 2010
This weekend was the bi-monthly litter pickup on my neighborhood's main road. Above is yesterday's haul; those 2 miles of road (times 2—each side of the road) were a mess. We were out there for 2 and a half hours! This morning's 2 x 2 miles were not as bad and took only 2 hours, and maybe only took that long because some of us who'd also been out yesterday were jaded and slower today.
It's funny how the litter varies. Sometimes it's mostly alcohol trash—beer cans & bottles, wine bottles, whiskey bottles, cardboard 12-pack holders. Sometimes it's household & construction items—old rags, dryer sheets, drywall, ziploc bags. Always there are pieces of cars—glass, mirror, fiberglass, bumpers—and always packing peanuts.
This weekend's largest contributor was the fast-food industry. We know whence cameth the red straw above and the torn bag below! I'm featuring these Sonic items in honor of my brother, but I do not mean to single him/them out, as all fast-food groups were equally represented in the array of cups, bags, wrappers, and the like: McDonald's, Wendy's, Popeye's, Whataburger, Jack in the Box, Burger King....I could go on and on. I know that fast food doesn't litter, people litter, but to the dispensers of all food, fast and otherwise, I have this to say:
STYROFOAM CUPS SHOULD BE BANNED FROM THE FACE OF THE PLANET. If every person that ever handed out such a cup had to pick up the approximately 157 pieces that are the remnants of each cup, and had to pick up the remains of approximately 47 cups in two hours, and then realized that they could spend the entire weekend picking them up because there are that many cups out there, perhaps they would reconsider their use. When no one picks them up, those little styro pieces stay there for a long, long time.
Tuesday sunset. You can just barely see Shovel Mountain there in the distance, dead center.
So Loretta the elderly cat with failing kidneys is maintaining, nay, perhaps even rallying! We're giving her subcutaneous fluids every day and take her growing feistiness about the procedure as a sign that she's feeling better every day. She is even acting kittenish and perky again! She's not eating a ton but still weighs more than when we got back from England two weeks ago, and she smells a far sight better than she did then, too.
O Loretta! I would do just anything for this cat; she has been my constant companion for almost 17 years. I have had her longer than I've known both my husband and my best friend. She has been with me through thick and thin. I hope she will continue to be with me for much more thick and thin—mostly thick would be good, but I'll take what I can get.
Lately I haven't been writing much here, just posting photos. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But here it is the beginning of the new year and I'm contemplative; spending time with elderly aunts and then coming home to a very sick elderly cat has provided food for thought. And now it's the last day before returning to work after the winter break and I have that Sunday-night-before-school-on-Monday feeling, only more so.
Things I have to do today: Laundry. Dishes. Lute practice. Give the cat subcutaneous fluids in an attempt to prolong her little elderly-cat kidneys & make her feel better. Spend a lot of time with said cat on my lap.
Things I want to do today: The things listed above, minus laundry & dishes. Begin typesetting, illustrating & binding my friend Hank's first mystery story. Finish the hat I am knitting for Hugh, my second knitted hat and the first one I've knitted in the round & used double-pointed needles on. Take a walk. Make Cornish pasties. Savor this last day off (till next weekend)!
Things I want to do in 2010: Make more art and other things. Be a nicer person & complain less. Be outside a lot. Give attention to all the things in my house that are broken or otherwise need attention. Get rid of a bunch of crap. Take more photos. Limit my exposure to those who are unkind or negative, whatever their reasons for being that way. Learn to play my lute in public without visibly shaking. Enjoy & appreciate the peacefulness that my life mostly is.
The picture at top is Loretta, the ailing elderly cat. The picture below is me in a B&B in Barnes, drinking Dorset brew "Piddle in a Bottle" that Janet gave us. As Hugh is not drinking lately, had to down it all myself, darn it. More's the pity.
Happy New Year!!!
