Talking Trash!

      Our Township has a very efficent Trash
pickup crew. You can practically set you
clock by their arrival.
      But they usually come to our house on
Thursdays. And I can never recall a time
when they came at night.
      That's why we were surprised to hear
our garbage can being hauled away around
11 last night.
       We were ever more surprised to see
the can sitting, upside down, in the very
center of the street.
       What surprised us most, however,
was the size of the bear we saw just off
that street in the woods, apparently
sorting through our culinary left overs,
enjoying an evening snack!
       The bright beam of my large
flashlight captured a huge black body
and two eyes that reflected the light
right back at us like some monster in
a horror movie. Those were 'scary eyes!'
       For a second or two we wondered
if might be thinking of running back
over to see if we had more food.
       I gave him some time to digest his
food before checking the area...from a
distance....again.
       He or her....it.......had wandered off
somewhere in the darkness....perhaps
looking for desert!
       I whistled a happy tune ....and made
some other noises.... as I retrieved our
garbage can before some unsuspecting
motorist  could drive into the woods or
our house by trying to avoid it.
       The plastic can seemed completely
undamaged. A metal lid, originally held
on tight by a bungee cord, was still
attached to one of the handles.
       Our garbage bag, however, is
undoubtedly somewhere just over the
bank on the side of the street in those
woods. It's worth fifty cents. But I
don't miss the money enough to go
after the bag just yet.
       The Township spent about
$117,000 in refuse disposal fees two
years ago.
       If the bear could make its rounds
Wednesday nights we could probably
save a lot of money on landfill
tipping fees! Then again, if the bear
doesn't eat everything on its plate.....
that is...in our bags....we'll still have
a mess left to clean up.
       I'd rather stick with our regular
collection crew. They haul it away and
don't leave the can in the middle of the
street. And I never recall any of that
crew starring back with 'scary eyes!"
       Hope that bear finds better 'digs'
and that all your NEWS is good!