June 16, 2021

by drplasticpicker

It’s only the 16th of the month and I’m already past by 20 bag goal for the month. I cleaned Rohr Park, which is across the street from where I grew up. I’ve run around that jogging trail countless times. But I’ve never wandered around the park grounds before. There is a small group seating area, and picnic benches below a eucalyptus grove. Most of the litter was old and weathered. Deflated birthday balloons, bottle caps, broken beer bottles, and many many chip bags. It felt good to clear the area of all that litter and go hiking amongst the shaded area. I want to show this area to my teen daughter the next time we are there.

I find litter picking a metaphor of life. I was meandering up and down these hills cleaning and our daughter had a better practice on her vollyeball team. I’ve essentially become a sports psychologist for her. It’s a skillset I never thought I would have to develop. Recently delving into some Buddhist philosophy and also litter-picking and my own understanding of myself, has helped me parent during this teenage stage. It’s good this all happened around the same time.