Why it’s hard to be me…well, the obvious (haha). But seriously, I take recycling to a new level. We live in such a rural area that access to recycling isn’t easy & I take recycling to the extreme! I save every single piece of plastic that I encounter for recycling. Whether it’s plastic from a shaving cream can, a plastic bag from the Walmart, or packing plastic, it gets recycled. And don’t you dare let me catch you throwing anything away in the regular trash that is plastic, I will cut you! While I’m talking about recycling plastic bags, why in the world do the makers of these huge recycling bins make the opening for plastic bags so tiny? I’m pretty sure there is a YouTube video floating around of me sucker punching plastic bags, when in reality, I’m trying to push the durn things inside the bin. This deposit hole has got to get bigger! If I’m in a parking lot & see a can whether beer or Pepsi, I pick it up for my collection. Lee always fusses at me about this, saying I don’t know what people did in that can! I also save the tabs off these drinks to deliver to the Ronald McDonald House in Chapel Hill, NC, but I also collect tabs from friends. Tabs are littered between our house & The Berry Patch until I can get there for one of Jack’s appointments.
My next collection is books & magazines which I use for our little free library at The Berry Patch. If we have a surplus, I make my girl Friday, aka Ava, run them into hospital waiting rooms. Newspapers, tissue paper, wrapping paper are all saved to wrap glass items purchased by customers at The Berry Patch. If I go to a shower, I’m thinking, that tissue paper would make excellent cushioning for our jarred items. I never throw anything away & hate to see waste. I will find someone to give outgrown clothes to, furniture, shoes, whatever to people. I hang out all of our clothes except for sheets, washcloths, & undies. It’s great on the environment. I make the family save the empty toilet paper rolls so when the lint screen in the dryer gets full, the lint gets put into the empty tube to make for an easy fire starter for Mama & Daddy’s fireplace in the winter. Prescription drugs are sent to the police station for proper disposal. Daddy & his sister, Dot have chickens. I save all my scraps for the chickens. No food goes to waste!
Sometimes I get fed-up with the chaos & say that’s it, I can not recycle any more. My house looks like a wreck with my recycling station hanging on the kitchen cabinets along with drink cans, the tabs, books, magazines, & more. But then the guilt of what I am doing to the earth kicks in & the cycle starts all over again. Call me a hippie, a flower child, a treehugger-it’s all true. On top of my house looking like an episode of recycling hoarders, my car looks like a gypsy wagon most of the time. I am forever hauling my non-trash items to deliver to someone that may can use it. It’s totally insane to be me! I’m like Captain Planet on steroids.
My other problem is reading. I read a ton of health magazines. I have always been interested in natural remedies, diseases, vitamins, & such. Over 1/2 the pictures in my phone are of articles regarding vitamins that people with chronic migraines should take, or what Reshi mushrooms are good for. If you mention you have an ailment & you get a random text or inbox from me, it’s because I’ve read something about your illness & I was thinking of you. I’m kind of stalker-ish in a non-harmful way 🤣. I’m willing to bet my family can add to the list of my oddities. They just roll their eyes at me when I tell them we have to start saving such & such or if I fuss at them for throwing something away that could be recycled. I wonder why these people hate the earth!!! (This statement is meant as a joke, DO NOT message me about this)!
I haven’t written in a few weeks, because there really hasn’t been much going on. Most of you know via my Facebook page, that we successfully took Jack to the Keith Urban concert. We were extremely worried that the heat, the excitement, & the crowd would be too much for him, but he proudly proved us wrong. Jack has been secluded in his room most of the time since attending the concert. If he is out, he is busy slashing at me, which makes me mad as fire! I hate it with a passion. Ava is enjoying her last few weeks of freedom at the beach with family & friends, Coleman is going to be joining them soon & then next week we load up the truck to move to Beverly…well actually, State, but it will seem like Beverly to him after living under the same roof as the Tasmanian Devil. It’s so hard to believe that the overly shy, timid little boy is so grown up. As I walk around the campus of State, tears of joy well up because I am so proud that he has accomplished so much & has a focused head on his shoulders. I also have tears of joy that State has an excellent recycling program…until next time.
Cruel & Unusual Circumstances 