Saturday, May 3, 2014

Hastas; Life on the Highway

West Boxford, MA

Set out today on Janet Teijido Memorial Trash Pick Up.  Intent was good; truth is I didn't make it very far.  2 bags, maybe 25 pounds of trash. There's plenty of opportunity for further pick up if I get out before the poison ivy. 

I found an ecology of trash at the side of the highway.  Most noticeable was Tyvek sheeting and plastic bags blown at the edge of the marsh.  Once I stepped away from the road to gather them, I saw a odd few cans, bleached of color and bent.  A black edge, a shoe, no what was left of a shoe.  A sole with ragged edge and ants.  Glass bottles nestled into the soil under the leaves.  Some with a rank smell of alcohol pouring out, others with caps rusted on sealing them tight.  The more I wandered after shiny wrappers and flattened water bottles the more glass I found.  I imagine the edge of the highway to be layers of bottles, leaves, and plastic degrading bags.  Perhaps only a few more days and all this will be covered with swarming green vines and thick grasses.

I went for a lovely three hour ride on the North Shore in the afternoon, but I felt like it wasn't coming together for training. Midway through the ride I started looking for 100 wondering things.  Found them.  Flowers, buds, dogs, and joy to be on the bicycle.

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