Week 42 – She Blows Hot and Cold

With the last “real” rain in Seattle back in faraway May and the continuous talk of the record heat this week,  Ben and I were not looking forward to picking up litter.  Sleepless nights were abound a la Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

Ben channeled  Week 11 where it was so cold and so snowy we could barely walk along the West Seattle streets hunting for litter.  “Do you remember the scene where Steve Buscemi tried to hide the money and he walked to the fence and looked to the left and to the right and all he saw was snow and barbed wire?  Now that is cold!”

I tried to get Fargo wrapped around my brain and all I could come up with was hot and heavy Bogie and the shy, demure Lauren Bacall.  Ceiling fans barely cutting into the steam of the day… and their minds.  “You know how to whistle don’t you?  You just put your lips together and blow…”

We broke down this week and bought an air conditioner for the bedroom.  No more Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as we wait for Mother Nature to make the call…”You feeling lucky? Well, do ya punk?”

Yeah, we felt pretty lucky, two more for our Bucket List.

Week 41- Litter is Everyone’s Business

Ben’s parents were in town and we managed to catch a part of West Seattle’s annual Hi-Yu parade.  Hi-Yu (according to their website) means “much, plenty, abundance” in Chinook jargon.

As we watched the parade participants in the queue waiting their turn to start, we noticed all the litter on the ground.  Talk about “abundance!” Ben and I agreed to follow the parade route when we talked about our litter pick-up the next day. We thought it would be the perfect way to give back to our community.  We have such wonderful events available in our backyard…the West Seattle Fair the week before and this week the pirates, clowns and marching bands on parade.

Unfortunately we barely got out of the parking lot of the Admiral Safeway.  We started down the sidewalk heading towards Hiawatha field and just made it to the start of the parade route before our buckets were full.  Granted, the Safeway parking lot was mostly full of Jack-in-the-Box litter but between the two businesses you would think they would be able to keep their lots and surrounding sidewalks litter free.

Last night we were lucky enough to watch the Pow Wow at Discovery Park.  They spoke of their people, their culture, and of the precious land… making sure to give thanks.

As the old Indian proverb  goes…”Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents, It was loaned to you by your children.”

Week 40 – Neighborhood Cleanup

As usual we had a busy weekend so we headed out to pick up litter after work tonight. Lori had the great idea to head down the hill to an exceptionally dirty spot in W. Seattle on 35th near the bus stop, Redline, and KFC.

We pulled out of traffic and were immediately staring at more than two buckets full right in front of us! We like finding these nasty spots because our efforts are quite noticeable.  Another added bonus is that we both drive by this location on the way to work so we can admire the clean spot every morning (well, every morning until it gets trashed again).

You would be amazed at how quickly you can fill a bucket with litter, today we spent no longer than five minutes and cleaned up a particularly littered place in our community.

Dana from Cosmopolis, WA

“I was inspired by your drive to help make the world a better place, and I decided to do a little cleaning up myself. A week ago, I attended the Hoquiam Cancer Run and saw that some teenagers, who had been “hanging out” on a nearby hill, had left a lot of trash laying in the grass. As I walked around the track, raising money for cancer research, I decided that I would take a break from walking and clean the hillside. The Cosmopolis Lions Club gladly offered me a large garbage bag to contain the garbage and within 30 minutes the hillside was again a nice place for other walkers to take a break.”

Week 39 – New Found Glory

Happy 4th of July everyone!  We celebrated in style as our founding fathers did with food, flags and fireworks.  Ben found a bunch of flags at a garage sale for $.25 and littered them throughout the yard so he could watch Old Glory wave as he slowly grilled the essential BBQ ribs.

Later that evening as we watched the fireworks display downtown from our deck we heard fire trucks and police cars with their sirens blaring.  We could hear fireworks nearby and assumed the police were after the illegal  celebrations.

In the hopes that we could pick up buckets of firecracker litter we headed to Dragonfly Park where we assumed people were lighting firecrackers.  To our surprise we found old litter  throughout the streets and a few pieces of rubbish in the park but no firecracker remnants.

As we disposed of our litter in the park trash can, lo’ and behold… it was full of exploded firecrackers and bottle rockets.  It’s nice to know that even though they might have been illegally setting of fireworks, they were kind enough to dispose of their rubbish in the appropriate bins.

Let’s keep America, The Beautiful!