November 15, 2019

by drplasticpicker

Today there was another school shooting in Santa Clarita, California. From the stretch of beach I take care of, one would have to walk 150 miles to reach that high school. There are children who have fired guns at children today, because we adults have not gotten our act together to pass comprehensive common sense gun control.

Since I’ve been going to the beach and picking up plastic, I don’t read the news as much. I glance at the headlines, but the constant cycle of bombastic news seems alien. The political discord and the wars in the Middle East all seem so far away. I read climate related news. But I noticed that CNN story today because it had to do with children.

I took these pictures before I read the CNN headlines regarding Santa Clarita. I noticed that the sky was an odd reddish hue, and the clouds were very dark and ominous. I watched the sunset with the other beach-goers, and we did not see the green flash tonight. I think the ocean, the waves, and the clouds are often tabla rasa where we can project our own thoughts. I showed this photograph to a photographer-friend of my millenial brother, and he said there was too much negative space toward the right of the photo. I see rather emptiness where there are no red clouds and no dark grey clouds.

Tonight I found many balloon ribbons. It is very satisfying to wrestle ribbons from the kelp. I imagine them strangling a seal or wrapped around a Whimbrel’s neck https://drplasticpicker.com/way-of-the-whimbrel/. I can remove those ribbons.

Sometimes when I’m removing the ribbons, I have to firmly place my foot on the kelp as an anchor and pull hard on the plastic ribbon. It comes out in shreds sometimes. Sometimes it slides out easily with one tug. I don’t pick up every piece of plastic I walk by, but the ribbons I always make sure to remove.

So there was another school shooting tonight. Likely my colleagues will get another petition together that our departmental will sign and I will review gun safety more carefully with my patients. But tonight, it was easier to pick up plastic and pull out balloon ribbons from seaweed. Tomorrow I will do the work I am trained to do. Tonight 150 miles north of this stretch of beach, there are children who have murdered children today, because we adults have not gotten our act together to pass comprehensive common sense gun control.

Another philisophical blogpost https://drplasticpicker.com/keep-it-simple-and-back-to-basics-after-my-interview-with-pb-monthly/

Want to read something less depressing? Here is my take on aluminum cans https://drplasticpicker.com/aluminum-cans-the-high-yield-salvagable/