Let’s talk trash

Through the woods

In my beginning is my end.  In succession
Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,
Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place
Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass.
Old stone to new building, old timber to new fires,
Old fires to ashes, and ashes to the earth
Which is already flesh, fur and faeces,
Bone of man and beast, cornstalk and leaf.

~ T. S. Eliot

Let’s take a walk out to the dock.  We can have a seat on the bench, enjoy the breeze and the scenery, and talk a little trash.

*Warning to those who don’t like snakes.  There are no images of living, breathing snakes in this post, but there is a photo of a snake skin.  It’s the third one down from here.  After that, it’s all good.  I’ll warn you again just before the photo appears, and when it’s all clear.

Admiring the holly along the way.

I am beginning to understand how much you can learn about people from the things they leave behind.

The pine trees are leaving their trash in the holly.

Nature, of course, leaves behind all sorts of stuff.

(Note:  Snake skin in the next image.)

Shed skin

(Note:  All clear now!)

The things that nature leaves behind are not always obvious, and usually return to the earth in some fashion.

An abandoned nest

We humans have become dependent on plastic for a range of uses, from packaging to products.  Reducing our use of plastic bags is an easy place to start getting our addiction under control.

~ David Suzuki

Dragon scales. (Bark from one of the loblolly pines.)

Saturday is a big clean-up day here at the Wabi-Sabi Ranch.  M and I have been working around the Weathervane Building in order to get inside, to see what there is to see.  Well.  Perhaps we would have been better off not knowing.

The Weathervane Building

It was obvious when we first toured the house that someone might have a problem with hoarding.  The place was PACKED with stuff.  Almost floor to ceiling in some rooms.  I gave the B’s the benefit of the doubt on that one (and still do in some ways) because I suspect they downsized when they built this house (and were probably about the age M and I are now when they moved in).  It can be challenging to figure out what to do with a lifetime’s accumulation of stuff when you move into a smaller home.

What was inside the Weathervane Building.

But as we dig around in the buildings and weeds outside, we’re discovering that the B’s must not have wanted to take their trash to the dump.  Plastic is everywhere.  Worse yet, plastic bags that time has shredded are sloughing off pieces everywhere.  You can’t dig into the garden or the weeds in what I think was a flower bed without encountering shredded plastic bags with rubbish in them.

There was so much garbage in the Weathervane Building that it took a couple of Saturdays to clear it out.

In the wooden barrels

Under a thicket of honeysuckle growing near the Weathervane Building we found two wooden barrels, the kind usually used as flower planters.  They were stuffed with garbage.  In the garden itself are plastic bags filled with egg shells.  Why store them in plastic bags?  Why not make a compost pile and put them there?

The rabbits want you to know they are not responsible for the trash problem.

One day, when we’re feeling up to it, M and I are going to have to tackle the mess under the deck.  Trash, and more trash.  It’s tucked in wherever we take a close look.  The overgrowth of flowers around the deck hid garbage.  Shredded pieces of plastic decorate the lawn.

It’s enough to make you want to jump in your boat and sail away. (Man kayaking on the creek.)

It’s our own fault.  When we made the offer on the house and property we included an offer to do the outside clean-up ourselves.  Had we known how bad it is, we might have asked the previous owners to take care of it.

Above the fray

Ah well.  It’s not as if we can go back and change it.  Instead, we had a man come out today to look at some of the piles of trash and give us an estimate on clean-up.  He is a very reasonable man, and his price is good.  He will help with the pavilion.  I have no idea what we’ll find in there as we haven’t gone in for a close look yet.  There are things we might want to keep and reuse or repurpose, but I suspect most of what we’ll find won’t be suitable for anything other than the landfill.

Oak tree trash

I reckon that’s enough trash talk from the Wabi-Sabi Ranch for today.  It’s a beautiful day.  Sunny with puffy clouds floating by.  Warm, but not thick with humidity.  It might be a good evening to sit on the dock and watch the sunset.  Deer fly season appears to be over.  That leaves the mosquitoes and ticks, but they aren’t nearly as bad as deer flies.

Reclamation

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you’re having a delightful weekend.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

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• Plastic Bags Litter Seafloor (scientificamerican.com)
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• Wildlife-Friendly Trash Disposal: Plastic Bags (sierraclub.typepad.com)