Stop and Pick Up the Litter - An Earth Day Post

I awoke this morning to the sound of a flicker drumming on the street light by my driveway. I assume this is some sort of "This is My Turf" activity because sometimes it gets a reply. One time another flicker drummed on the the furnace vent of the house across the street in reply - the behavior went on for several hours and while I found it amusing the neighbors didn't. Studying up for this post I discovered that I have Red Shafted Northern Flickers (Pictured). There is also a Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker.

Tomorrow is the start of Spring and the date of the 39th Earth Day. All day long today I've had the lyrics to Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" playing in my head. It seems appropriate somehow and I hope that the idea of Earth Day does stay Forever Young.

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

When I was younger I remember "Don't Be a Litter Bug" public service announcements on TV. It always seemed like the obvious thing to me to not litter, but I do remember a semi-traumatic experience riding back from a baseball tournament where the family I was riding with bagged up all the trash from our fast food meal and heaved it out the window as we drove down the highway.

Today I drove to the liquor store to pick up some Campari. Driving down the street I noticed that not only is this week the start of Spring, it's also the start of Garage Sale season. People are big on putting up signs for their garage sale, but most seem to lack the follow through on pulling down the signs when the sale is done. I guess we're supposed to just ignore the sign when the date has passed.

I stopped by the Post box down the street to mail a couple of things that I'd missed getting into today's mail. There on the utility pole by the Mail Box was a fluorescent green garage sale sign. I pulled it down and threw it into the litter sack in my car. I pulled down another ten signs over the rest of the trip to the liquor store and library. It felt good. The neighborhood looks better. It probably added ten minutes to the trip, but when all was said and done, it was time well spent.

This isn't just something I did today. I pulled down a few more than usual and I'm more inclined to stop and pull down pole litter on a sunny day than on a day when it's pouring rain. The point is that if we'd all just pick up a couple of pieces of litter here and there, the world would be a better place.

Negroni

This is the Classic Recipe
1 ounce gin (I used Tanqueray)
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce sweet vermouth (I use Martini & Rossi)
Garnish: Orange slice.

Shake or Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail class.

Garnish with an orange slice

For a less sweet, stouter drink try David Wondrich's Version

Perfect Negroni

1 1/2 ounce gin
3/4 ounce Campari
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
Garnish: Orange Peel Twist.

Shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist