Just a Trashy Girl

I spent my Saturday morning picking up trash in my community.  Our church adopted a mile of roadway and we're responsible for keeping it clean.  I didn't mind the hard work...I can roll up my sleeves and work right along with the rest of them.  I just felt sad giving up my Saturday.  With Hubby's crazy long hours, time with him is so precious.  Plus, my brother had a brand new baby boy Friday afternoon (Yippie!!!) and I wanted to spend some time with him.  But we had committed to doing the work so we had to follow through.

When I showed up, the only people present were the man in charge, his two daughters, and our pastor's wife.  That made me feel really bad.  (You see, I have backed out twice already.)  I could see that they really needed us.  In addition to our mile, we are handing out literature in another neighborhood while picking up litter there too.  So 6 of us for all that work isn't much.  Luckily, another man showed up after us.

We set out, all clean and nice smelling.  With the beating sun and clear skies, that didn't last long.  We found some interesting things along the roadway...I wish I had brought my camera!  But then again, I didn't want to touch anything that belonged to me with those filthy, germ-ridden gloves!  Of course, there was lots of firework trash leftover from the holiday.  We picked up tons of food wrappers and drink containers.  Hubby found a jacket sticking halfway out of the storm grate.  Yeah, weird.  Cigarette packages, broken toys, used Q-Tips, a bucket, and tons of popsicle wrappers were other things we found. 

My trash bag smelled like a hooker's car for most of the walk.  Along with the cigarettes and beer containers, I picked up a new car freshener that smelled just like patchouli oil.   That mixed with the scented trash bags (which you may know I hate!), and the dryer sheet I found, and you get a hooker's car.

But at the end of the day, all sweaty and filthy, I jumped in the shower with a smile on my face.  It feels good to give back.  Now hopefully those filthy animals from 14th to 17th Streets can learn to keep their doggone neighborhood clean!!!  Just kidding.