Week 71 – Giving Back

Ben and I have a new addiction….the Marination Mobile.  It’s a Korean/Hawaiian/Taco truck that plants itself all over the city all week long.  But on Saturday’s, the truck belongs to West Seattle! It hangs out on the intersection of Morgan and 35th Ave in an abandoned lot.

The silvery- saucy-fusion mobile arrives early but sits silent and sober.  Ben and I run errands Saturday morning and avert our eyes as we  pass the truck that “tries” to blend into the surroundings.

As we pass the time waiting for the Marination Mobile to stop marinading and start feeding our addictions, we head out to various areas to pick up litter with the promise of yummy tacos as our reward.

Unfortunately we noticed that the abandoned lot that houses our latest West Seattle hot spot was also surrounded by trash. Just like we filled ourselves up, we returned the favor and stuffed two buckets with litter.  In true marinade form, we feel that we also enhance some tough areas and inject a tender flavor throughout.

Whoever thought of mixing Korean/Hawaiian/Mexican food into one…we thank you.  Mahalo nui loa!

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”  James Beard.

Week 70 – Precedents Day

Every week Lori and I attempt to set a precedent, a simple task that we hope motivates other people to join in and help clean up our earth. Recently we added Betty from Louisburg, NC to the Bucket Heads Club and she wrote recently to let us know she filled yet another bucket. We are so happy to have her join our cause and sincerely hope others will do the same.

On Presidents Day today we headed down to Lincoln Park (since we live in Washington State we figured we honored both Presidents in one fell swoop) and picked up a couple buckets of litter (mostly bottles and cans aka recyclables).  It was a beautiful sunny morning that was a taste of Spring. With the Winter Olympics underway in Vancouver BC just north of us we both would rather it be cold and snowy in Seattle to help our snow-starved neighbors to the north.

Two buckets, a nice walk in the sunshine, and twenty minutes of work… how many of you reading this will consider heading out with a bucket or bag to set a precedent of your own?

Betty from Louisburg, NC

The last time I picked up litter, I think, was when I wrote to you in January.  In NC our normal average temperature during the winter months is 50 degrees.  This winter, we have had rain, snow, wind and temperatures mostly in the 30’s.  I’ve been about to go berserk not being able to get outside and walk.
 
Today’s temperature got up to 45 degrees but it was very windy. Yesterday we had wind gust up to 50 mph and our yard was a mess with pine cones and twigs so I decided, regardless of the cold I was going to get outside and clean up the yard.  Tomorrow is looking much better for picking up litter as the wind is suppose to be calmer.  
 
I picked up about 2 bushels of  pine cones and filled a big baby pool twice with limbs and twigs.  It felt so good to be outside working in the sun. Even though it was quite breezy I decided to walk down the road and pick up the litter.  I got in a good walk, not quite a mile, and filled half a bag with litter. Tomorrow I plan to walk the road in the other direction and get that cleaned up.
 
Today, when I got back to the house, I took the bottles and cans out of the bag to recycle and put the remainder of the trash in a 5 gallon bucket and decided to take a picture.  After taking my foot and pressing the trash down in the bucket, I poured it into a Wal-mart bag.  Then I flattened the recyclables and put them in a Wal-mart bag for comparison.  The two bags are equal in size.  The difference is if I had not separated it and it all went to the landfill,  the trash would decompose but the bottles and cans would be there forever.
 
You can put me down for another bucket.  I would not have been able to do all this cleaning up today without my reach extender.  It’s a must have tool for picking up litter and yard debris.

Week 69 – Underdog to the rescue!

Watching the Saints come marching in for victory was great!  Gotta love the underdog.  New Orleans definitely deserves something to cheer about…not to take any kudos away from their athleticism, sheer bravado and tenacity.

We showed our tenacity by running offense at our usual spot.  We’ve been trying to dominate the area by penetrating deep and delving into the line of scrimmage.  Unfortunately our coverage was blown and the other side had field position.

We could barely make a dent and their field advantage overcame us at one point.  But not to worry, just because they had the momentum meant that we could apply the sneak attack come from behind.

What we lacked in rushing, we gained with our double coverage.  We learned that as long as you have the drive and don’t mind encroaching on that neutral zone, anything can happen.  Two buckets in five minutes!  Now hit the showers…