THOUGHTS FROM THE GARBAGE CAN:

I’m always standing ready to serve no matter the weather and it sure is COLD today. You can see the snow flying all about me. My dark green color stands out against the clean white snow. You’d be green to, if you had to eat what I eat!

I don’t understand why they won’t move me closer to the house so I can get a little shelter from the wind. I suppose there’s some “rule” about how close to the road I need to be for the days when the big truck comes to purge my insides. Oh… how I don’t look forward to those days. I can hear the truck coming a mile away as it revs it’s motor to climb the hill and then slows down to pull in the drive. Then, sure enough. It pulls in our driveway. They poke me with those long poking things and then tip me upside down. If that wasn’t bad enough it shakes me until… well…. let’s just say it isn’t pretty. BLEK!!! FINALLY, they put me right side up again… but it’s usually a pretty rough landing.

I love the lightweight feeling after the big truck has left. If they don’t feed me for a few days then I run the risk of tipping over because they won’t move me to the sheltered area of the house. Usually they remember to feed me right away though so that doesn’t happen often. Some days the boys forget to shut my lid…. UGH…. then the cats come, scraping and clawing, and STEALING MY FOOD! Those barn cats have some nerve.

I always wonder how my city friends are doing. There were a bunch of us delivered to our new homes the day I was brought to my home. Some of us were going to the city and some to the country. I think I like being in the country. The air always smells so fresh out here and the country REALLY comes to life at dusk. After the humans have long gone inside and shut off the lights, that’s when the fun REALLY starts. The raccoons and skunks come out to play and for some reason they REALLY LIKE ME. I have to say I’m actually quite popular in these parts and I’d even go so far as to say that on some nights *I* am the LIFE OF THE PARTY!”

Morning comes and duty calls. I’m always standing here ready to serve them no matter the weather. They feed me often. I get a bath once a year. I get to watch the kids play outside everyday. I get to see the cars/trucks passing by on the interstate. All things considered. It’s a wonderful life.