Tree Day II

January 7, 2019 – Safeway Route.

We are writing this by candlelight with an ink stand and quill pen. In the early hours of Sunday morning, a wind storm came through causing a tree to fall across the street that knocked out our power. We are now in the 35th hour of the outage with no end in sight.One of the neighbors cleared a path on one side of the road so those of us on our side could get out, but the neighbors on the tree-side were still blocked.

About noon Sunday, a couple of guys from the electric company came by. When asked if the wires were live, they said they assumed so and put red tape across our cul-de-sac. It didn’t stop anyone, they just lifted or untied the tape and continued to run their errands. We also went on our walk this morning and lived to write about it.

The walk this morning was chilly at about 37F with no rain. There was a lot of trash, mostly blown by the windstorm. We got a honk from Mr. Handyman.

We found a small, full bottle of Gorilla Glue. We purchased a bottle of this once and were not impressed with it, so we probably know why it was discarded.

Someone lost their protection. A rubber glove and ear plugs.

We were undecided as to picking up this scrap of paper.
In the end, we did.

We came across a large lottery sign.
We figured it blew in from Safeway, so we carried across the street to the store. We could win a Winnebago. Wonder if it has a generator?

We found an empty liquor bottle.
Mars whisky?  We’ve heard that Martians are mean drunks.

This is sad.
Someone kicked the bucket. [groan]

We found Kenneth Cole’s Reaction.

Empty, so we’re not sure what his reaction was.

We got excited when we spotted a nickel.

But it was only an electrical box blank.

As we rounded the corner toward home, we found this.
The residue from flares that had been lit when the tree came down.  We understand the ash residue, but not the ten discarded plastic flare tops.

January 8th, 2019 – Park and Ride Route.

We are still in the dark awaiting the utility company to restore power, 55 hours and counting.  We may need to order more ink for our quill pen from Amazon, since we are still quarantined in the cul-de-sac.  But then how would they be able to deliver the package!? It was a cold walk this morning at 34F but with no rain. Both traffic and trash were moderate.  We got honks from Mr. Handyman and our neighbor Steve the Dentist.

We came across a small traffic cone.
Obviously it had little impact on the traffic since it was well-mauled.  We carried it to the bus stop and interred it in the trash container.

We found a book jacket. All Kinds of Families. 
Yes, All Kinds of Families LITTER!

We found an unopened roll of duct tape.

From Goodwill. After all our findings we have donated to Goodwill, it’s about time they gave us something in return.  Now we can get our ducts in order.

On Norway Hill, we found Voodoo Ranger.
New Belgium Brewing.  We found only one bottle.  Where are the other five?  Since the road over the hill is blocked to through traffic, trash has been light.  We’re sure people are saving it up for us.

We also found this.

Our very first Baby Butt-Bottle.  Aw, ain’t it cute?

January 9th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

We are no longer in the dark!  Yesterday about noon, a work crew showed up to clear the tree off the road.  They made relatively short work on it and before they finished, an electrical crew arrived and started repairing the downed power lines.  Before the electricity was restored, a crew from the cable company was on site awaiting their turn. At 4:00 pm, our electricity was restored and at 8:00 pm, our Internet was operational.  At one point, there were nine trucks on site.  We were very impressed.  The cable crew worked the latest and we gave them two six-packs of a beverage for them to consume AFTER work.  They seemed very appreciative.

One of our pet peeves about these types of projects is the litter that is left behind.  Reference the plastic flare caps from the start of this event.  This was no different.  At the end of our walk we found these wires and other random pieces of refuse left over from the work.

On our walk this morning, we found these cable cutters that were probably dropped by one of the crews.  We figured that they left them for us to cut up the cable.  However, we were pleasantly surprised.  Later this morning, a crew showed up to remove the remains of the tree and cleaned up the mess including the dropped parts.  Kudos to the power company, Puget Sound Energy.

At the peak, there were over 200,000 customers without power.  At the time our power was restored, there were about 8,000 customers still without power and the number at this time is about 500.  That’s very impressive logistics, not to the 500, of course.

On our walk this morning, we got a honk from Mr. Handyman and saw Salinas Construction, but did not get a chance to wave.  We also flung a very flat rabbit.

We found another one of these.  Ok, someone’s playing games with us.

We also found another rubber glove.  Sorry, we just can’t help ourselves.  Maybe we have a rubber fetish?

Also, we saw one of those new high-tech keyless locks. And an opened one on the ground.

January 10th, 2018 – Park and Ride Route.

This morning was a balmy 47 F with a light mist which made for a pleasant walk.  Traffic seemed heavier than usual and the trash started light and seemed to increase as our walk progressed.  We waved to Salinas Construction who donated our vests to us.

Along 112th Ave. NE, we have found two Newts attempting to cross the street.  They move slowly and we moved them back to the wetlands whence they came. This morning we came across one that didn’t make it.  It should have waited for us.  We flung it off the road into the wetlands.

Ck w/Fi me.  Or something like that.  Have a Nice Day picking up our litter.

We found a chocolate shake container. High-Protein, Low-Fat Litter.

We found a bungee cord. We find these quite often, but they normally have been run over multiple times. This one was in great shape. 

We found breakfast. One for each of us.  We had to share with the slug, though.

We found another Voodoo Ranger bottle. There are still four more out there somewhere.

It has been three weeks since we ventured down into Gatorade Gully.  Today’s haul is a record. Ten Gatorade-Butt Bottles and two Bud Lights.  We have pulled over 50 of these out of the gully.

January 11th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

This morning was a very pleasant walk.  We got a slightly early start and made good time.  The Kirkland street sweepers had covered their part of Juanita Woodinville Way and did our dirty work for us.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and the Seattle bus driver flashed his lights at us.

We had a rare find today. Two pair of matching gloves.  Okay, one pair were rubber gloves, but the other was pair of Head Hybrid Gloves.  Janet said she had seen them at Costco.  Janet spends a lot of time at Costco.

Then, we thought we’d found another glove. But it was only a cardboard cutout of a glove.  And not a pair, either.

We found another coconut near where we found one a few weeks ago. Arrgh!  That tune is in my head again.

Another irresponsible pet owner. These people need to be spanked with a rolled-up newspaper.

We found a baby’s sock, but no baby. Thrown out with the bath water?

We found another Gatorade-Butt Bottle. This one was on Norway Hill, but not in Gatorade Gully.  The guy is getting sloppy.

We found an empty vodka bottle. 

Tito’s Handmade Vodka.  What is handmade vodka, anyway?  It turns out, not Tito’s.  In a lawsuit, it came out that it is mass-produced using modern, automated distilling equipment.  Eventually, the plaintiff and Tito Beveridge, yes, that’s his name, settled out of court.

January 12th, 2019 – Riverside Drive.

We got out of the house a little early this morning.  Janet did not do the 112th Ave NE cool-down lap because she had a tax thing to attend.  I am sure they will give her time off for good behavior.  Chuck, on the other hand, went beyond 112th across the freeway in search of a rumored treasure.  There was no treasure, but there was a lot of trash.

We did fling a squirrel and an opossum that were in pretty good condition.  Well maybe not the squirrel.  Then again, maybe the opossum was just playing possum.

The first thing we found on our way down the hill was McLitterer’s bag. It had the standard clean platters and unused condiments in it.  We also found the two McDonald’s cups used for tea.

We found this wine bottle in the Sammamish River Park parking lot in Bothell. We have been finding one to four of these bottles each week.  These are 187 ml bottles.  Probably someone’s lunch.  Five bucks for a four-pack at Total Wine.

In the same area, we also found a large bag filled with mud and leaves. It was too heavy for us to take with us, so we left it for the city to deal with.

Along the road past the freeway, we reached across a guard rail to pick up some trash and found this. Jillian’s driver’s license.  Fortunately, she has a fairly unique name and we were able to send her an email.  Still waiting for a response.  We have her address, so we can drop it in the mail.

This doesn’t look good. Someone’s brake pad.  No pad, no brakes.

We found another Voodoo Ranger bottle on the way up the hill. Three more to go.

At this point, Janet headed for home and I continued on the walk to the freeway.

On the way to the freeway, I found this out-of-service tag lying on the lawn near the street. “Reported 3rd time.  Not Fixed!”  If he wants the lights fixed, he needs to put this on the lights, not the lawn.

Nearing the freeway, I saw some trash on the other side of the fence.  From there, I saw a guy walking around the parking lot picking up trash and putting it in their trash bins. After he had finished and was walking away, I yelled a “thank you” to him and waved to him.

At the freeway off-ramp, I saw a several pieces of plastic that had been a dropped car part and was now car parts. I spent several minutes picking up the pieces and putting them into an extra bag I had.

At one point, I was rewarded. A shiny penny!

Across the off ramp, there was some trash where a beggar sits most days.  There were three unopened bottles of water and an unopened can of mountain dew.  These were in the weeds several feet from where he sits.  Make up your own story of how they got there.

Halfway across the freeway, I came across another hubcap. A Ford this time.  I gathered a lot of trash around the freeway and the bus stop across the freeway, but I didn’t make a real dent in it.  I took the liberty of putting several items into the trash bin at the bus stop, but the hub cap wouldn’t fit.  I ended up carrying it back to the house.

I crossed Juanita Woodinville Way to head back on the other side of the road and found a shoe in the weeds. Nike Air Jordan.  About $120 per pair, so this must be worth $30.  I was overloaded, so it got left in the trash container at the Park and Ride.

On 112th Ave NE, I found some unsmoked cigarette that had been tossed in the bushes.

Maybe this person read this slip of paper I picked up.

They should have added,

• Cigarettes make up more than one-third—nearly 38 percent—of all collected litter.
• 75 percent of smokers report disposing of cigarettes on the ground or out of a car.
• Cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate (plastic) and are nonbiodegradable.
• Butts are designed to trap toxins, so each used cigarette butt is a poison capsule.
• Large numbers of cigarette butts get washed into storm drains and end up in rivers and the ocean.