Post-Post week 13--creative project "Faithful pressence--keep picking up trash"

After giving it a lot of thought, it seems I don’t have any “creative project to help the environment.” But maybe faithful presence with a willingness to look a bit eccentric will serve the purpose for this assignment.  I’ve been reflecting on the cliché “Think Global—Act Local.”  This really seems a very good guide for all of us.  It is with this thought pulsing in my mind that I began to take plastic bags with me on my regular morning walks so I could pick up trash. I’ve been remarkably faithful in this practice.  (I must admit it was meaningful encouragement to have Katie, our own locally active environmentalist, tell us on our SEU clean-up day that 70% of roadway litter will find its way into nearby bodies of water—ugh!) I like knowing I’m contributing to keeping trash out of the water. And I must admit I enjoy looking at the strip of clean I leave behind meJ  In addition, maybe I’m a good example because last week I actually saw another older woman who I frequently pass on my walks doing the same thing.  About two weeks ago, one of the dads in our neighborhood stopped his van to roll his windows down and thanked me for my clean-up efforts—in front of his twins. And not long before that two little boys that live on my street and their two friends came rushing up to me as I pulled open my mailbox to show me the trash they had picked up on their walk with their moms. And another friend in my neighborhood thanked me personally for picking up the litter near her house. So my “project” is to continue to be faithful, if somewhat eccentric looking, and keep picking up trash during my morning walks.