When you turn left out of our neighborhood onto Howard Road, you enter onto a stretch of road that is one of my favorites in western Howard County. You cross a stream, meander through a wooded section, and then come upon Mullinix Farm on your right. All in all, it's less than a mile. But, it's a wonderful reminder of why we moved out here in the first place. Lately, though, the road has become a mess. Literally.
All winter, I've watched the amount of trash lining both sides of Howard Road pile up. I remember commenting in the past about how it always amazed me that I never saw much litter along that stretch of road. Kim's response was to tell me that was because one of our neighbors used to periodically walk along it, picking up the things that had been thrown out of passing cars. I didn't know whether that was true or not. I wanted to believe that everyone passing along the road found it as beautiful as I did and wanted to keep it that way. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
You see, that particular neighbor moved away last summer. Ever since, Howard Road has become pretty disgusting. Everywhere I looked, I saw trash. Finally, I decided I couldn't take it any more. That's why I was down there at 7:30AM this morning with a trashbag in my (gloved) hands. I hoped that a single trash bag would be enough. Not quite. After about 200 yards on just one side of the road, I couldn't fit anything else in the bag. It was jam-packed with soda cans, beer bottles, empty packs of cigarettes, take-out coffee cups, soda fountain cups, fast food wrappers, plastic bags, and candy wrappers. I'd also found my fair share of random household trash from the few homes that line that stretch of the road.
It completely amazes me that people just throw trash out of their car windows as they drive. Don't they remember Iron Eyes Cody, the Crying Indian, in that famous "Don't Litter" commercial from the 1970's? I guess not. And, if you put your trash out for weekly pick-up and an animal gets into it during the night, don't you think you'd pick it all up the next morning and re-bag it? Is that too much to ask?
Anyway, I owe my old neighbor a "thank you" for how clean he kept Howard Road for all those years. I'll try to take it from here.