Woodsy Owl and Iron Eyes Cody would be so disappointed ...

Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Latest Collection: 2/13/11

In a very concerning move for Mr. Pickles (he's our cat, not something I found in our yard), I had to bring today's batch into the sunroom just long enough to snap with my B-berry because it was too windy outside to get everything to pose nicely for a group photo. (Yes, we just mopped this floor yesterday.) A pretty standard collection in many ways: candy wrappers, plastic bags, drink lids, cigarette butts, water bottles. Also a totally tubular piece of foam, a scrap from a JC Penney credit card bill, and some newspaper clippings (somebody's still reading!).  A few standouts:




We've recently gotten a new Family Dollar AND a new Dollar General just a few blocks away.  So our options for procuring off-brand 5-Hour Energy have expanded exponentially. Want to know what folks are buying? According to today's Family D receipts: Alpo dog treats ($2.85--that was a lone purchase, so it's nice that someone made a special trip to the store just to reward their pooch), a king-size caramel Twix ($1.10), Super Glue ($1 for a two-pack), fruit-punch Gatorade ($1), and a bag of Werther's Originals ($1--another lone purchase so somebody must've either had a real craving or just needed to break their $20). And on the Dollar Gen receipt, children's mucus-relief pills ($3.75) and, perhaps helpful for the mother dealing with the sick child, PMS pills ($3)




Now, while this piece isn't very photogenic, it is exciting because it's the first one I've seen in a month or so that came complete with its owner's name: a library receipt for Rhonda Kay Rive (possibly River or Riven or something, but it's only clear through the "e"). I also have her Tel, which I'll refrain from sharing. Though if I really start to wonder what she thought about her movie picks of The Joneses, Brothers, and It's Complicated, or if she felt that Twilight novella lived up to the rest of the series, or what she did during her 60 minutes in the computer room, it's nice to know I can call her up.




I don't know for sure, but I suspect this menu scrap is from our local soda shop, because they have a "911 Heroes" room (I've never been in that area--not sure if they serve us non-hero types there) and the items listed here include the Jailbird Chicken Salad Sandwich, the Officer Patty Melt, and the Hit & Run Ham & Cheese. Also note that one of the drinks is proclaimed "a steal." Get it?  (I couldn't make this stuff up.)




Here we see the Bible verse on the reverse side of the menu scrap. I'm wondering where the rest of the menu got to, though? Why do I only have this small sliver?




It's nice to know that the empty AquaFina bottle and its corresponding label are eco-friendly, at least....



Finally, in a project for another day (or whenever we dig up those old bushes), there are all sorts of goodies just out of my reach. I jabbed myself in the eye on a branch when I was going for these Little Debbie and Charleston Chew wrappers. Not worth a corneal abrasion. Perhaps I'll rig up some kind of long grabbing apparatus like the Gopher.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, guys! Would love to hear about any interesting finds in your own yards.

2 comments:

  1. Finally, another time waster I can experience at work! I do believe that menu is indeed from Graham Soda Shop. I remember enjoying the "Assault and Battered" Fried Chicken Sandwich. And who could forget the equally clever "Chicken Salad?"
    What I love finding in our yard is an item from a fast food joint that I've never heard of. How did it find its way here?!

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  2. Maybe it's a scheme by startup fast-food restaurants to get their branding out into the public eye without paying for ads. They could hire people to drive around and distribute all those logoed "advertisements" (burger wrappers, napkins, straw wrappers, cups, BBQ sauce packets, etc.). Fast-food packaging, apparently, is the biggest litter problem besides smoking-related litter, at least in San Francisco and London:

    http://www.slashfood.com/2010/06/23/throw-that-wrapper-away-or-pay/

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/4223106/McDonalds-waste-makes-up-largest-proportion-of-fast-food-litter-on-streets.html

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