Category: Sunshine and Happiness

Posted in Sunshine and Happiness

Trash Talk Part II

Posted on by Part-Time Sunshine

CONTINUED from previous post: Trash Talk

Speaking of replacements, I had to order a new garbage bin because the attached lid broke.


Unhinged, it could no longer cover odors or prevent dumpster diving raccoons. These bins put up with a lot of abuse, getting banged up, flipped over, and thrown down, so I’m surprised mine stayed intact for nearly twenty years.

Too bad more things weren’t built to last as long as today’s heavy-duty polyethylene trash bin. I have appliances with the lifespan of a mayfly.

The sanitation company customer service rep instructed me to put my broken bin in a visible spot for the broken bin collector (not Wil or Joe) who should exchange it within 72-hours.

That meant I had to take it away from its private, shady spot against the garage and leave it at the top of the driveway during a heat wave. As long as the bin was collected in three days, I wouldn’t have to put my kitchen, bathroom, and basement trash out.

Here’s the thing. I am embarrassed of my smelly trash. I can air out dirty laundry with stains but dirty trash… NOPE! And it accumulates quickly here. We are homebodies and eat three meals a day which means there’s a heap of scraps and shells that aren’t meant for composting.

The week (not three days) that my trash bin had to wallow in stench in front of the whole hood, we had shrimp and crab legs. Holy mackerel! Mix that in with bags of dog doo, vacuum dirt, and chicken wing bones and you have one putrid trash can. Poor trashed thing stood up there scorched in humiliation like Hester Prynne of the Scarlet Letter. Oh the public scorn.

And to think of the stink affecting my neighbors. I mean, by day five, it smelled like a toxic soup, at least it did to my sensitive nostrils that became cursed after my pregnancies. Try teaching in a middle school with such a staunch sniffer.

What if those young bike riders passed my driveway and wrecked from the reek? What if a meditating walker took a whiff instead of a breath and passed out on my lawn? Should I put a canopy over the VISIBLE trash bin and stop it from boiling? Should I spray it with Febreeze? Should I lure a skunk over with apples (do they like apples?) and get it to spray my can so everyone smells the skunk instead of my rotting junk?

I kept calling the sanitation department to check on the status of my order. “We apologize for the delay, but someone will be there soon to fulfill your exchange. If you want to talk to an actual operator, please hold on until your trash further ferments in fumes.” Did I seriously hear that? C’mon.

Finally, the new can arrived, the afternoon AFTER garbage day, so One L Wil and his helper emptied the broken bin and left it for the very late broken-bin collector.

Phew! Special delivery: The Gift that Keeps on Taking (but is best left in the shade).

Sing it with me now:

95-gallons of trash to be hauled
95-gallons of trash…
You take it all out
For the trash truck route
95-gallons of trash to be hauled

Posted in Sunshine and Happiness

Trash Talk 

Posted on by Part-Time Sunshine

I am a Superfan of Garbage Day. Are you? 

For a small service fee, our garbage collectors stop at the top of my driveway in all weather every single Wednesday to remove our household scraps, junk, and muck. For me, it’s a weekly cleansing opportunity. 

I love taking out the trash. The fresh air and extra steps offer a literal and metaphoric chance to lift my arms of litter and make a difference by getting rid of the sour, the slimy, and the useless. 

In the short span of a week, a lot can pile up, so I’m thrilled to fill my big brown garbage bin to the brim. Do you fill your bin to the brim? Is there a weight limit, you ask? Most residential trucks can lift 300-800 pounds of trash from the standard 95-gallon bin. How do I know this, you wonder? 

Recently. I had the pleasure to take my old garbage man Wil for a walk. I hadn’t seen him in years, since my early morning running days. I knew he still cleaned up my neighborhood though because every December, he sealed his Christmas card in a plastic bag taped to the bin lid. I send one back in the recycled bag with a little Christmas bonus that I make out to One-L-Wil. It’s a cool way to exchange season’s greetings and gratitude. 

So last month, while walking my dogs before work on a Wednesday, Wil and his new helper Joe, came down the hill screeching to a hault. While Joe dumped Mrs. Martin’s trash with an automatic hydraulic side-arm mechanism called a grabber, Wil hopped out of the truck to say hello. We stood and chatted, him shooting the breeze, talking about the weather and our sore knees. 

I said, “I’m a walker now. No more running.”

Wil said, “I walk here and there.” 

“Yeah, I need to finish and go to work.”

“How much further?” Wil asked. 

“The dogs and I have six more minutes.” With that, Wil, in his fluorescent vest, waved off Joe to grab a few more cans to walk down the hill with us. 

We briefed each other about our work, dogs, and recent loss of our mothers. No politics, no religion, no gossip about the neighbors. Just good old trash talk. Joe picked him up at the cul de sac. Sending good thoughts to Wil on his upcoming knee replacements. 

Speaking of replacements, I had to order a new garbage bin because the attached lid broke. 

TO BE CONTINUED…

Posted in Dog Lover, Mother Nature, Sunshine and Happiness

Midsummer Musings

Posted on by Part-Time Sunshine

Happy summer! Happy June 24th which many observe as Midsummer Day. This is a beautiful time to celebrate the season and all the treasures that nature abundantly offers. There are loads of internet links inspiring Midsummer fun such as making a flower crown, building a bonfire, playing lawn games, and taking a walk through the dew. 

I woke early to take that walk. This week, temperatures are in the 90’s, so my neighborhood in Meadville, Pennsylvania, is sultry and sticky. I set the alarm to greet the day at 5:30, sans the stifling heat wave who was napping. 

Georgie, the lab, snouted through yard after yard, inhaling the magical perfumes of wildlife and a trail of elixir left by Midsummer fairies and their unleashed doggies that can fly with their tails wagging as fast as hummingbird wings.

Now, I’d be fibbing if I told you I walked barefoot in the dew. I am rarely barefoot and don’t like wet, grassy feet, but what a sweet image to think of children romping through a field of wildflowers absorbing the night’s nectar. 

But I did stick my fingers into my backyard and pat the dew onto my freckled cheeks, chin, and forehead. I dipped again and dabbed my eyelids, nose, and lips. Legend says that washing your face in the dew of Midsummer Day will bring good luck, good health, beauty, inspiration, and protection from the sun (so does sunscreen which I always wear yet still get sun-kissed). 

The dew is also said to help loosen any inner knots you might have. Personally, since 2020, I’ve been tangled in weeds of words and old, overgrown vines of stories and poems. The trapped weeds rooted themselves deeply and siphoned my creative drops.

Today, I DEW feel better, renewed at this nearly halfway point through the year. I unknotted, breathing writing onto the page and screen, and hitting share, freckles and all. 

If you have some knots, it’s not too late to dip into the magic of the day. 

Thank you for joining. Have a day you dreamed of.