Take a crap on your own lawn.


 

We have a problem out here. Well. One of many.

The one I am thinking about today, is “Trash.” Of course, we all have trash. We humans, especially we Americans generate a LOT of waste. Not only that, it appears that our do-gooding-recycling hasn’t been so good either, according to recent news reports. Most of what we “think” we are recycling is ending up in landfills.

But that is another story.

Today, I am writing about straight, good-for-nothing, trash.

Let me back it up a little bit first. We, my partner and I, are lucky enough to live out in the “country.” In the rural. The rustic. In fact, the bucolic surrounds us in every direction we look. And, we think it is quite lovely. Granted, we are not on the California coast, or the mountains of the Rockies. But we have fields, and trees. Deer, and hawks. Creek, and pond. And when you mush it all together, it comes out quite nicely on the other side. There is about 130 acres and we like to call it home.

It is remote. But there, smack dab in the middle of our isolation is our road. A windy, twisty, tree-edged road that runs right along the creek. It is a necessary component. We must come, and go.

And that is where the problem reigns. The trash.

And here is how it happens. People drive along the public road. Before doing so, they have stopped at some McDonald’s in a far-off land, or at a beer drive-thru, in some other kingdom. They have traveled far to come to our land, as we do not have a McDonald’s Factory or a Beer-Dispensary for miles and miles. So they buy it and they come.

Then, when they get to our juncture, they roll down their windows and throw out the parts they have not consumed. Big Mac boxes, smoked-up cigarettes, empty beer bottles. But it doesn’t stop there. They bring items from other places too. Sometimes there are things like broken toys, clothing, leaking coolers, and window screens. And, a couple of days ago, there was a deposit of various large items, including a beaten-up, worn-out, ugly-ass, pleather recliner.

My only response? I do not understand. This does not compute.

How can anyone think this is okay?
Or. If they realize this is not acceptable behavior, and that they ARE, in fact, breaking the law, do they do it with a sense of glib stealth? Like they are really pulling one over? Perhaps they believe they have joined the ranks of the criminal masterminds of the century. Or, do they think that we have it better than they do, and we can just take care of it?

In the case of the recliner and the other crapiness, they had to go to quite a bit of effort to load (and unload) this from a truck. We are less than two miles from the landfill. Why not just take it there?

I simply do not understand. I can only classify them as knuckle-draggers. Ignoramuses. Fatheads. Dolts.

I have many speculations about their character. No of which are good.

The other part that bothers me is that I cannot think of a solution. This has been going on for as long as people have had trash. We built our home here nearly 25 years ago, and it continues to be a common occurrence.

I know there are plenty of us, who are trying to do what is best for our planet. Even if they are small measures, we are working to take care of this good green earth, on which all of us are squatters. We find struggle with the lame-brains who counter-measure with their diabolical littering ways. And of course, we have the current president, and his anti-environmental stances.

I guess we will just have to keep being bigger than them. When they damage, we repair. And know our world is better off for it. We recognize the privilege it is to be here. Maybe they will learn from our good acts on earth. For earth.

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“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

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“Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life — is the source from which self-respect springs.”
― Joan Didion, On Self-Respect

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“And a step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano

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50 Ways to Help the Planet – Save Our Environment and Planet Earth
https://www.50waystohelp.com