I’m sitting in the BLT looking out the window at the shards of glass glinting in the sun.
I step outside and look around. The campsite is littered with shards of glass, a large assortment of rusty nails up to five inches long, bottle caps, pull tabs, a “Lunchables” plastic container, spark plugs, a huge bolt with nut, the handle to a plastic push-toy, a plastic bag, a broken fork, a strip of cloth, a three-inch section of hose, dried-up dog poop, cigarette filters, pieces of rusted metal, and several unidentified objects. Sheesh. Why doesn’t somebody clean up this mess?
Hey! I’m somebody!
I set to work with my plastic rake. It’s only about eight inches wide because I bought it for cleaning out under bushes in my landscaping back in Georgia. It’s a cool and breezy morning, and I’m having a great ol’ time raking up the trash. I pick up the trash by hand from under the bushes so I don’t disturb the natural mulch. In an hour the place looks beautiful. Two chipmunks and a cactus wren appear and they seem to agree it’s a lot better than it was.
The last time I cleaned up some trash in the desert, I was accused of trying to turn it into suburbia.
My efforts today did not upset the Mojave Desert ecosystem. This was a trashed and trampled campsite. Why should I live in a mess? Why should anyone, even if only temporarily?
Now paws won’t step on broken glass, small children won’t play in trash, and everyone can enjoy visually pleasing surroundings.
I like places and people to be better because I passed that way. Or, at the very least, not pissed off.
Can you stand some more sunrise photos? They look best if you view them full screen. Look for the kissing rocks!
The Sun Rises at Sawtooth Canyon
The photos from the post are included because I haven’t figured out how to exclude them when a slideshow is in the same post.
rvsue
rvsue and her canine crew 