Non-Reusable, Says Who?

   What's all this talk about plastic grocery bags not being reusable?  So a fee is to be imposed on each bag in hope of curtailing their use and thereby lessening the burden on the environment.  A noble goal, but who would it help but the manufacturers of plastic bags, the kind that are sold in a package for a specific use:   Use a new purchased bag instead of a used grocery bag.
    Every day I re-use three plastic bags from the grocery or drug store before breakfast.  My first step is to scoop out the cat's litter box, and throw that bag into the outside trash can.  Next, I replace the plastic bag that lines the bathroom waste basket, and then to the one that in winter rests in the kitchen sink until morning, the bag with end of the day kitchen  remnants. Actually, while we have a large purchased-for-that-purpose plastic bag lining the kitchen trash can, I use several small grocery plastic bags each day for food scraps, etc.  I don't want to leave anything that might attract mice or ants, and smaller bags work better than replacing one large liner bag several times a day.
    If there is a pan of brownies, I often slip the pan into a plastic bag and tie it closed.  Same thing for a roasted chicken or such, something too big to fit in a fridge container.  I also place a plastic bag in the kitchen sink when peeling potatoes or apples, so easy to slide into the trash can.
    Every suitcase or travel bag we own has a supply of plastic bags, to pack shoes, for used laundry, or to  hold other small items.  Even for local trips, if you are wearing boots, but want to change into shoes when you arrive.
    If I am packing items for shipping, crumpled up plastic bags make good packaging materials, not to mention containing the item itself.
    We live near the state road, and people (slobs) still chuck their garbage out car windows, and in good weather, I attempt to clear it up.  Not in a  major, clear your environment sweep, but in semi-weekly or so efforts.  I typically put my hand inside one of the plastic bags, pick up the refuse and slip it into another plastic bag, and then into the trash can.  
     Moreover, what are we supposed to put our returnable deposit bottles in?  At present, there are 2 plastic bags of empties in the trunk of my car waiting for an opportune turn at the depository machine. Do I need to buy bags for that?
   I am wholeheartedly for protecting the environment, but do not think that a surtax or fee or whatever it is called placed on plastic bags will be a plus to anyone except those who manufacture the bags sold in packages, and to those who aspire to plump up their political careers.
 

Incoming

   This morning I went to the newspaper box and brought in 4 newspapers, all in  one plastic envelope,2 days' worth.  So I guess they didn't terminate either the paper I subscribe to, or the one not subscribed to.
    Our mail didn't come today during the daylight or evening hours.  It's now past 10:00 p.m. and it may be out there, but I don't care.  Nothing important ever comes in the mail, does it.
 

The World Back Then

This is the world, two views of it.  It emerged again unexpectedly, in my income tax file, where it had remained for several years after its stint on the refrigerator came to an end.  Here is what is written around the circumference of the world, then  a much smaller world than now for its author:
   "Dear Nana, Papa and Andrew, Thank you for coming to my classroom.  It meant the world to me that you came.  I love that you tuck out time to be with me."  It's dated 5/26/10.
  Almost seven years ago, and half of his lifetime, so the  memory of that particular  day will doubtless be lost to him.  There were many such events during  those years when we showed up at school to see and listen to the stuff of childhood.  Those occasions in the days that seemed as if they would last forever tend to blend together in the haze of memory, but not this day, not to me.  The emotion of that day will last forever, and not because of the sweet classroom thank you pictured above.
     The three of us, including toddler in tow, showed up at school at the appointed time, and went to his classroom.  There he was, a small figure sitting at a table in the very back of the room.  He looked up and saw us. But the program was behind schedule, the students not yet prepared to read their stories, essays really.  So we left his room to go down the hall to visit his brother's room, and after that visit, returned to the first classroom. The room was crowded with kids and parents and grandparents, not enough seats for everybody.  So we stood in the front, behind the other adults.  I peered around them and saw our student, still at his table but pressing his hands against his eyes.  I knew what that meant--he was trying to hold back tears.  In a very short time the teacher called his name, for him to read his story, and, acknowledging our presence with a smile, he went to the front of the room and delivered his reading. (I will say it was the best of the class, but I may have a bias.)  Afterwards, I asked him why he'd looked so sad, and he said it was because he thought we'd left before he read his part.
   Even then, I felt a pang of love mixed with sadness, and it only deepens as time goes by.  I realize that it's time gone by and the players have moved on, but that doesn't ease the heartbreak.  I'm pretty much hating  memories these days anyway.  Nostalgia.  What's it good for?
 
 

Valentine's Day 2017

Where have all the flowers gone.  (I'd thought that the clump of snow in the second and also last picture looked to be heart-shaped, kinda, and considered molding it to conform more, but couldn't reach it over the snowbank.  Real hearts probably look lumpy anyway.)

Blog!Blah!Blah!

  Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me.  Why is it so hard to make oneself understood.  I know I can communicate very clearly but it takes a speaker and a listener for the process to be complete.
  Trying to get a newspaper delivered to my home was like trying to untie the Gordian Knot.  As referenced in a preceding blog, my efforts resulted in my  receiving two papers, one unwanted. That went on for two weeks and now today I received no papers, one subscription having been paid for.    I'm too disheartened to even call.
  I buy a juice product called Juicy Juice.  We like it.  But the bottles are hard to open.  The plastic cap is not severed through deeply enough. And it's no exaggeration to say  I've stressed my wrist and my poor old fingers twisting at the cap in futile efforts to loosen it before I resort to a sharp knife or razor blade to cut through the plastic. It's probably just a matter of time before I slash my hand if I continue this way.  So I went on the Juicy website and told them about it.  Their response was to send them the name of the store the defective product was sold at, and they would send me coupons.  I replied I did not name the store because it was not a fault of the store's sale, but a problem with the cap, and that I was not looking for coupons, but was hoping they would re-design the cap. Today Juicy sent me an email thanking me for my input, and saying coupons are on the way.  They want me to continue to enjoy their product.

Paean to Perseverance

 "The people yes
The people will live on.
The learning and blundering people will live on.
They will be tricked and sold and again sold
And go back to the nourishing earth for rootholds."
          Carl Sandburg, 1936

"She was warned.  She was given an explanation.  Nevertheless she persevered."
          Mitch McConnell,  2017

An Easy D

The weather was so snowy that I didn't think I could make it to my car.   Tough going, but nevertheless I persevered.  Sometimes you just have to...