T-Day Project with Big Z

Reporting in on a portion of the project I did in conjunction with Big Z. We found the sun, some plastic bags, a rake and the ditches in front of our home. This project was put off a few days from T-Day due to the snow, Big Z being with his Dad and the added time with my friend who came over. We figure that's Okay, long as it gets done before the next T-Day, April 4, 2009! (See Saturday's post on March 7.)

Big Z wanted to ride bikes, not jump in the trenches! He got in there anyhow ;-). It lasted all of 5 minutes until he found a can that was full of bacteria-filled, and thus, stinky water. ICK. It got on his gloves and he figured he was DONE.

Never to fear, however, he threw the gloves down and took the rake in hand and began to work with assurance he would keep the stink off his hands ;-).

The first two ditches were pretty clean, however, it began the excitement of a trash treasure hunt. With each weird item we found, we would celebrate stuffing it into the trash bags. At one point Big Z changed his tune and said, "This isn't so bad; this is FUN!"

So, we continued on, pulling weeds and dried grass that sat there since we moved in last Spring. We had to "see" what was under the grass to make sure we got it all clean. But, as it was fairly clean to begin with, Big Z went to the ditch in front of our neighbor's home. You'd think he hit Nirvana!

He began chattering and raking out all kinds of items: bottles, broken and unbroken; cans; plastic bags; Styrofoam cups; plastic lids from bottles; plastic bottles; cedar tree branches. All the while, I was pulling weeds and dragging up junk inch by inch, not really hearing what he was telling me since he was just out of my hearing range.

We filled the first plastic bag with the above, including wrappers, newsprint, myriad bits of hardened plastic. Again, as we went along, anytime we found something, we'd hold it up and give a "whoop!" knowing it was one more item that would find its proper home in the trash can or proper recycling receptacle.

What were the most cool trash treasures? A golf ball in pretty good shape; a pair of glasses twisted into odd shapes --- thought about sending the lenses to the Lion's Club, but it was pretty beat up, so we opted not; a ring! (The ring itself was in good shape, but the tines where the beautiful stones sat were crushed and demolished, but I couldn't help but think of the story of the Diamonds in Your Own Back Yard); a frog --- thankfully still alive as it brushed death with the rake's spikes that Big Z happily slammed to the ground; and bones from a critter, likely from a squirrel that lives in the cedar trees of our neighbor's home.

The following day as we drove to Big Z's school, we looked in the ditches and celebrated our efforts. And then, we saw other ditches . . . with stuff
. . . treasures . . . one of which had a TIRE in it!

I believe the exercise was a good one for Big Z. He learned to overcome his lack of desire and find excitement in cleaning our small stretch of ditches, knowing he was making a difference, not just to us and our eyes, but to the neighbors and to the planet. This is something we'll definitely do again in the future.

As a reward for the day's efforts, we got on our bikes and took our neighbor's boy along with us for a ride on the trails in the cold, late afternoon sun. Ice was still on the ground in spots, but we saw quite a few people out enjoying what bit of sun remained in this beautiful day. Our friend had not been on the trails we ventured yet, so with every inch further and every new thing he saw, he was excited and couldn't wait to tell his Dad about. It was great to see his smiles and his appreciation for getting to join us. We were sufficiently tired at the end of our day and ravenous at dinner time ;-).