How’s that for a post-Thanksgiving title?  Literally, though, I awoke to the unpleasant surprise that an animal had not only gone after my trash, but pried the cover off, despite the bungee cord attaching it to the can and to the porch railing, tipped it over, ripped open the bag and spread the contents all around.    And while this occurred in the night, I didn’t hear a bark or growl from either of my ferocious guard dogs, not even Shadow, who sleeps in the back porch with the mission of guarding the back entrance.  Makes me wonder …

So dressed for the “wintry mix” that was falling, I picked up the trash I had thrown away over the last week and a half.  The bag didn’t get to the road on Wednesday because I missed the deadline.  Yes, folks, where I live if the trash isn’t up to the road by 6 a.m. on pickup day, at noon, the pickup guys slap a big orange sticker on it and leave without it.  I have yet to figure out how they know if it’s out there by 6:00.  Does our county pay someone to drive around and take notes?  Photos maybe, and then relay that information to the pickup guys? I don’t get it.  Sounds like one of those “rules for the sake of rules” things to me.

At 6:00 a.m. Wednesday morning I was working at my computer and apparently not thinking about trash.  Thus there was a bag in the trash can just waiting for whatever animal strolled in overnight.  Possum, coon, feral cats?  Who knows?  Seeing as Shadow the ferocious guard dog didn’t sound an alarm, I didn’t see the intruder(s).

The point?  In this greatest nation on the planet, we sure throw away a lot of stuff.  With Thanksgiving and Black Friday dominating the news, we’re seeing evidence of plenty and the grab for more.  I know “commerce makes the world go round”, am involved in it myself as both buyer and seller.  But the magnitude bothers me.  With all we have are we a thankful nation, instilling the value of appreciation and thankfulness in our children?  Hard to tell.

Just looking at my trash says I am, no doubt, a consumer, minimal compared to those with children at home, perhaps, but still, I was out there this morning, picking up trash.  And it gave me lots to think about.

How about you?  If someone rifled through your trash, what would they learn about you?  And if some animal spread it all over your front yard, would you be out there fast, before anyone could see?  Pickin’ up the trash – food for thought ….