Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Litter Mob 13


It was a beautiful, beautiful fall day. In shady spots there were a few small patches of snow, but otherwise the weekend of winter had passed and autumn had returned. We found many smaller and a few larger downed branches, victims of Saturday's wet snow. Far more of a mess than post-Irene. And we found relatively few condoms and other cruising accoutrements. Lots of bottles, though. Heavy.

So it was a good day. We filled 6 bags of trash.

Elizabeth stumbled upon a possible crime scene - a backpack with contents, including cellphone, scattered on the forest floor below a high road. We laid them all out to try to piece together the story. There was an ID card, for Medicaid: a young man in his early twenties. An asthma inhaler. The cellphone was missing its SIM (subscriber identity module, who knew...) card and its battery, but we found the latter lying separately on the leaves. Using my phone I called a number written on a sodden piece of paper but the mailbox was full. There were condoms and toiletry items and literature about LGBT support. Had he been robbed? Run from police and dumped the bag? Was he OK? We won't know.


In another part of the woods, far from a path,  Franck found a Chase debit card, expiration 2017. 


The witch hazels (below) have begun to bloom - Hamamelis virginiana, native to the region and always blooming in fall, not late winter.


David showed us how to haul a hanging branch from a tall tree. We sawed small branches and cleared them off the path, and pruned a spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and a witch hazel... 

I managed to slice my thin glove and nick myself. The well-prepared Elizabeth gave me a tissue and a band aid. 


Our next Litter Mob will be on the 15 of November. Get your shots and join us...mwajajajajaja! 

Or just wear better gloves than I do. We are provided with surgical gloves (snap!), but it's best to bring your own work gloves.

Thanks to Elizabeth, Franck and David.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Homeless people often leave their belongings hidden somewhere and then retrieve them later so they don't have to carry them around all the time. I think you stole someone's bag. Way to go.