Sunday, took a Sick Day

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Saturday evening, I made crackers and didn’t get to sleep until nearly midnight because I didn’t think to eat anything more substantial than crackers until 11:00.  Sunday morning, I slept in and took Petey on a late walk, picking up litter on our walking route. 

I know; I said I’d never do that again.  But I have to learn a lesson twice to confirm the mistake.  Not only is it not aerobic; it is tiring.  Me stopping to pick up stuff gives Petey permission to stop and sniff, and to keep going as I’m trying to go back for a piece of litter.  By the time I got home, my legs were rubber.  I didn’t have the strength to do Tai Chi even after resting an hour. 

It felt like I was coming down with something, which was really irritating.  I’d left the pavers waiting for Sunday at Schroeder Park, and I had a pot-luck party that I really wanted to go to and made extra crackers for.  But it wouldn’t do to work myself sick or spread the flu around a party, so I went to bed, tried to sleep, and hoped to feel better later.  I didn’t, so I sent my regrets by e-mail.

The Rogue cleaned The Rocks

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Thursday morning is now my time to go to The Rocks with Petey and pick up litter.  The water got high during the recent storms, and had gone back down a lot, but not enough to easily walk onto the peninsula. 

There was very little trash in the inner parking area; the weather hadn’t been nice enough for many visitors.  The high water had cleaned up most signs of prospecting, filling holes in with sand and rocks.  There were still some sandy clumps of weeds lying on the rocks, and the big round hole had stayed well above all the water, open and ugly.  But the big brush pile down by the river was spread out and looks like it belongs now.

 The river moved major rocks into the biggest hole

The brush pile is not so obviously piled now.  I picked out that blue flip-flop.

The river filled this excavated crack; the rain gullied it.

But the round hole and the dirt thrown out of it stayed above water.

Since the city had given me nice strong yellow trash bags, I decided to clean up the trash from the brush pile in the east parking area up by the road.  It ended up taking two bags, starting with the vacuum cleaner that had been left in the brush pile and started the trash accumulation over a year ago in the fall.  There also were some fiberglass-covered chip boards that were heavy enough for the second bag, and a bunch of miscellaneous trash. 

I dropped off the bags by the dumpster in the Reinhart Volunteer Park (AKA All Sport Park) by the Maintenance office dumpster, as they were heavy.  I figure I’ll get the source of all the trouble, the brush pile, next week.

4 x 8 Sand for Parks

Tuesday, February 18^th, 2014

Every other Tuesday has been for the Parks department for a while, until I get done with special projects.  Then I will use that day to catch up on my own yard.  On this day, I planned to bring a load of 4 x 8 sand to the Office to finish the putting behind the fuel tanks, and take the rest to Schroeder, to rebuild the Dog Park memorial paver bed. 

It had been built with plain soil under and between the pavers, which grew loads of weeds.  A parks volunteer and some work crew slaves started weeding it one day in midsummer while I was weeding the dog park.  The work crew was brought without weeding tools, as they rarely do weeding; Community Corrections owned no weeding tools.  (They have a hula hoe or two now; see "Starting Out In the Snow.")  

I lent them some tools, but had to take them back when it was time for me to leave.  They and the volunteer left at that point, 2/3 done, and it didn’t get finished until I did it last fall over a couple of weeding visits.  I was thinking then that I should pick up the pavers, use the dirt to fill holes in the dog pen, and reset them in 4 x 8 sand, which would be much easier to weed, being looser than dirt.

4 x 8 sand behind the fuel tanks

At the office, I decided that the moss and weeds all around the fuel tanks had to go and be replaced by 4 x 8 sand, so I used a bit more time and sand than I had planned to.  But it looks good.  I also weeded a bit and blew the dirt off their concrete apron in front of the shop, reflecting that they need 4 x 8 in front of it to keep the dirt at bay.

It was starting into scattered showers by the time I got to Schroeder.  There was a lady there, reading while her dogs played.  I started picking up the pavers, laying them just far enough to the side to allow me to work, in the same pattern in which they were laid.  I rearranged a few for better fit as I went on; they were made with two different molds, and some are done portrait while others are landscape.  

Once they were out of the way, I used my flat shovel to take the dirt out that had been between them and flattened the bottom.  I didn’t need to go deeper than they had been laid; the box was deep enough to lay some sand down and lay the pavers on top.  There wasn't enough dirt to fill all the holes that had been dug in the previous two weeks; I will have to continue with the large, irritating gravel in the pen.  It's irritating because it is too large to walk on comfortably.  Some of it is large enough to turn ankles.

4 x 8 sand, screened 1/4"-1/8" rounded river sand, is great for laying pavers and flagstones because it doesn't pack like regular sand; it stays loose and pours like sugar. One can lay a rock on it, wiggle it, and it will set into the sand, filling the hollows and curves.  Laid an inch deep, it makes a great walking surface that is easy to maintain with a hula hoe and rake.  Laid deeper, it is like walking on a beach, but it makes a great driveway that eventually packs down for easy walking.

The young lady and her dogs were joined by relatives, who welcomed my latest leaflet, as she’d seen one before.  I asked her mother to take photos of me working for this post; she took a bunch.  They soon had to leave as the showers got heavier.

I got the sand laid in the bottom and started putting pavers back in, filling between them as I went.  I had enough sand and time to do about half of them; ran out of time to even lay the rest back in the box.  I had an SOS meeting to go to; no time even to go home and clean up.

I’m heading back there today, Monday the 24^th, to put the pavers back for now.  Next Tuesday, I will bring the rest of the 4 x 8, fill in between them, and spread some in the entrances to the dog parks and other muddy spots.  It’s great mulch for helping perennial grass grow, as well as keeping the mud off one’s feet.  That will complete Parks Projects for now, and I will start on my yard.

Redwood Avenue, Day 2

Monday, February 17^th, 2014

This Monday was Presidents Day, with no Toastmasters meeting.  But I had an Eyewitness Report interview on KAJO at 9:25 AM.  It was short and sweet, and went pretty well.  You can find it in their archives. 

I parked in the center of the intersection of the Redwoods and picked it up a bit, as I hadn’t done so on Sunday.  I then started on Redwood where I had left off, at the other side of the main entrance to the YMCA, where a pile of big trash was calling to me from under the big wild rose bush and smaller blackberries nearer to the entrance.  I filled the trash bag too full to comfortably carry in the first 50 feet, and started using my little bucket to fill the larger bag in the back of my truck.

When I got tired of working in the big ditch, I worked other side of the road for a while, continuing to clean what I had done the week before and going a little further toward and along the Redwood Highway and down in the big dip between the two roads.  Moving up and down off the highway, conscious of the traffic and showing my bag or tunic when I could, I realized that I needed a sign to set on top of my truck, a sandwich board in the same style as my tunic, so people would know when they see my truck that I am cleaning litter in the vicinity.  I could clean out of sight and not worry about it.

I soon drove back into town to take a break at home and to order those signs, which should be ready this coming Wednesday, 9 days later, along with the stickers for my bags.  When I came back and continued, I found a discarded TV in the ditch next to the Fairgrounds parking lot, broken in two pieces and several smaller ones by impact.  I cut the wires that held the two big pieces together and put them in separate bags, along with some big cardboard, and left them up by the guardrail as I used the bucket to finish filling the two bags.

I got about to the end of the guardrail that day, and picked up 5 bags of trash.  I took them to the All-Sports Park again, this time going in the main entrance and dropping them at cans here and there.  The last two, with the TV and a 2’ x 4’ stiff sheet of fiberglass, were left next to the dumpster at Maintenance. 

Starting a Big Job: Redwood Avenue

Sunday, February 16^th, 2014

A week or so before this particular weekend, I called our Assistant City Manager and told him that I wanted to clean up Redwood Avenue, but it was scary; there is too much trash.  I needed a place to put it.  So far, I was doing okay dropping grocery bags of trash into public cans, but this job would take big bags, there was so much big trash.  He said he’d call around and see what they could do.

A few hours later, a nice lady from Community Development called and said that they’d decided to give me yellow bags like ODOT uses, and I could leave them next to trash cans in whatever park is most convenient to me.  The special bags would discourage people from thinking that they could drop their household trash likewise.  I quickly realized that they could be used for advertising, and ordered some stickers to let people know who had filled them.  In the meantime, I’m writing GPgardener.com on them with permanent marker.

It took most of another week or so before they got the bags, but this day I was ready to really work Redwood Avenue.  ODOT bags are made especially for litter cleaning: they are square, not so long as to drag; and they are tough.  Recalling my work crew days in 2010, I took a 2-foot marking stake I’d picked up the previous week and rolled up one side of the bag on it for easy carrying and filling, right above “GPgardener.com,” showing it off to passing traffic.

That was after doing litter pickup along my dog walking route and cleaning at Schroeder Dog Park, as I’d done Saturday at Greenwood Dog Park before going to work gardening.  While at Greenwood, I figured out to blow the bark a bit further off the path, to keep it from being kicked right back onto the pavement.  I noticed later in the week that it worked fairly well; a lot less was on the path than ever before.  By the next Saturday, it at least had not spread all the way across the sidewalk to the gutter.

At Schroeder Dog Park, a gentleman complained about people who don’t pick up after their dogs and those who sit and watch their dogs dig holes that his show dogs trip and hurt themselves in.  He suggested security cameras and signs warning of fines and banishment; it works at the Kennel Club.  After picking up after such people and filling holes with loose gravel frequently, I can’t disagree.  That is, once I use up the large, loose gravel in the large dog pen and replace it with 4 x 8 sand, a much nicer walking surface.

Earlier in the week, I’d noticed a china plate broken in several pieces in the middle of Greenwood at Rogue River Avenue, while walking my dog just as it was getting light.  Since I wasn’t picking up litter, I figured I’d come back later in the day and get it.  I should have at least moved it out of the road.  I forgot to get it that day, and on my way home Friday, I saw that it had been run over, divided and multiplied all over the street for half a block, like paper under a lawn mower.  I couldn’t pick it up Saturday in the time available, but I went back Sunday and swept it off the street after working Schroeder.

I didn’t stop to pick up litter at the Intersection of the Redwoods with Petey in the truck as I had done previously, since I planned to come right back and start Redwood Avenue that day.  I took Petey home; had lunch; swept up the broken plate; and proceeded toward Redwood.  But the litter on the Caveman Bridge made me stop on the other side and pick up both sides of it and the area between it and my truck.

While I was doing so, I reflected that the Chamber of Commerce could sponsor weekly cleanup of the Caveman Bridge.  Or another business could; one $500 Super Sponsor should be enough for that landmark.  Another could sponsor the 7^th Street Bridge, or the Parkway Bridge, or the Intersection of the Redwoods for weekly cleanup.  Several could sponsor Baker Park, or the underside of the Caveman Bridge.  Ideas were really flowing, because I had gotten my first donation in the mail (as opposed to being handed to me) a few days before.  I needed to set up sponsor pages and places to sponsor, and then start personally asking people to sponsor my work.  People with money like to be asked personally to give it to good causes.

When I finally got down to Redwood Avenue, I started at the beginning, where the divider between it and Redwood Highway starts.  The north side was very dirty with mostly small litter, it being all pavement at that point in front of the county fairgrounds property.  There is a lot of dirt and gravel on the pavement in the area between the parking lots and street, which attracts small litter but doesn’t hold much big stuff.  People tend to throw their litter where it will not look out of place.  The divider on the south held mainly cigarette butts; I moved back and forth as the mood took me and traffic allowed.  Cigarette butts show up first and everywhere; tobacco smokers are naturally careless.

Larger litter started showing up more where there were plants like blackberries to hide it, which there are in front of the grandstands, where there is also long, white “saw horse” barrier left lying on the ground, too heavy for me to set up straight alone, so I left it.  In the wide gravel stretch just before the fence, someone had scattered what appeared to be a 500-piece puzzle.  I did not have the patience for every piece; I figure I’ll pick up a batch every time I start down the Avenue, and get them all sooner or later.

Yes, I intend to start from the beginning every weekend.  I hate to let a place I’ve cleaned get dirty.  We’ll see how long that lasts, or how far I can get.

Lots of big litter started at the fence, with shrubs and taller weeds to hide food and drink trash.  I got as far as the main entrance to the YMCA in the four hours I was working on Redwood that day, and collected only 2 big bags of trash, which I dropped off in the All Sports Park at the trash cans near the tennis court and bathroom. 

Each piece of little litter takes as much time to pick up as larger litter, except where one can sweep them up.  For each piece of litter one can see from a car, there are 50-100 unseen pieces that must be picked up, one by one.  But even the smallest glitter of glass or balled-up gum wrapper can be seen by a person walking, and attracts more and larger litter, which is why they all must be picked up.

Back to the 7th Street hedges

Sunday, February 9^th, 2014

This is the last of my litter cleaning posts I should have to do completely from memory.  I got smart this week and started taking notes in my statement book.

I was determined to get back to those juniper hedges full of trash along 7^th Street, south of Bridge.  But first there was Schroeder Park Dog Park, and the Intersection of the Redwoods, avenue and highway. 

There were relatively few butts in the triangle or in the street, due to getting the gravel off the edge, I think.  I’m also slowly picking up the ankle-twisting rocks and out-of-place sticks.

I worked down the south side of the intersection all the way to the end of the guardrail.  Neglecting that section the previous week seemed to have attracted a lot more litter.  Even in the places I pick up every week, I am still picking up old butts; it’s impossible to get all the litter out of any area the first few times.  But every week, I go a little farther away from the road along that side.

When I got down to intersections of Bridge, 6^th and 7^th, I decided to work the south side of Bridge between the intersections first, as it had quickly acquired visible trash in the week between.  Halfway down the block, I crossed Bridge to the small trash beckoning from the north side.  I soon found that someone had broken a bottle over a wide area along the side of the east building, too widespread to bother with a broom and dustpan; it was pick it up one piece at a time.  I worked up 6^th Street a few parking spots, and then down the block to 7^th and around that corner, picking up mainly the stuff visible from the street.  Crossed at the light, finished the south side of Bridge, and worked up 7^th Street toward the river, down to the end of the block, just to clean what I had covered the week before.

I also crossed the intersection at 7^th, picked up the island, and then noticed the butts piled at the base of the traffic divider posts on M street.  Smokers do love a target to aim their butts at.  There are also piles of soil and grass among the posts, possible piled by the street sweeper, that I may have to clean up one of these days.

I moved my truck from 6^th near Bridge to the restaurant across from Voorhies on the east side of 7^th.  Started picking up in the shrubbery on the edge of their lot and worked a little ways toward the bridge, turned around, and started down 7^th toward the hedges.  The backdoor of the restaurant had litter that caused me to circle around the place before proceeding again.  The next property was fairly clean.  And then came the juniper hedges. 

I collected 4 or 5 grocery sacks full of trash of that stretch, much of it way in the back by the fence.  The ends of clear sections tend to gather windblown trash, where it blows down the fence and lodges in the shrubs.  And passersby tend to throw their stuff at the back of the hedge as well, where it’s hard to reach even with a litter grabber.  Tree litter and leaves are piled up against the front, covering part of the sidewalk.

Junipers truly should not be hedged, and hedging should be avoided as much as possible.  They are an ugly security hazard.  Portland has a nuisance ordinance forbidding trash-collecting hedges.  Hedges are ugly, and ugly attracts ugly, as people throw their ugly stuff in ugly places.  

Hedges hide burglars, assailants, and vagrant sleepers.  Hedged junipers in particular are a fire hazard, which was illustrated in front of Bi-Mart last year; now they have cinders in that spot.  When a shrub outgrows its space, the thing to do is cut it to the ground and let it grow back; limb it up; or replace it.  Young shrubs are a lot prettier than old, hedged shrubs, and collect a lot less trash.

A bit of evil fun and a great tool

Fairgrounds lights from across the Rogue, below the Wastewater Treatment Plant

Saturday, February 8th and Monday the 10th, 2014

Something exciting was happening across the river in the Fairgrounds Saturday morning, when I walked Petey in the pre-dawn darkness.  As I rounded the corner of the wastewater treatment plant below Spruce and approached the river, I heard a shout.  Sitting by the river a few minutes later, I heard a distinct whoop of excitement.  Considering the location and time of day, it was probably evil fun.  I called city police and let the dispatcher know about it.

Picking up litter along the route after first light, Petey and I stopped at the dog park to throw some balls, so I didn’t take him to the dog park later, when I blew off the bark on the path and around the parking lot, and picked up some rocks. 

Rain started before I could go to work at my Mom and Dad’s place for the day, so I decided to do them on Monday.  Gardening must be done with proper timing, and customers must be served on a regular schedule, so if I get rained out of gardening, I have to give up a litter cleaning day to serve them, as long as I keep them.  Of course, I’ll never drop my parents even when I am making enough at litter cleaning to make a living, but I may hire gardening help for them.  It would also be nice to pay them back in cash as well as labor.

On Monday, I had some business downtown first.  While driving down C Street past a jury parking lot, I saw a man kicking some mulch off the sidewalk.  On the way to work, I drove back that way and stopped long enough to blow the mulch off that section of sidewalk with my little battery-powered blower.

This is one tool that every homeowner and store owner should have on hand for quick cleanup jobs.  It’s light and easy to grab and use, with no cord or gas engine, and quiet enough not to need ear plugs.  Its charge only lasts about 15-20 minutes, but an extra battery and a fast charger allow one to do wonders over the course of a day’s work.  I don’t recommend any particular brand because they are all good, and they keep changing and improving.

Cleaning the Block nigh the Bridges

Monday, February 3, 2014

I got out at first light with my tunic and walked my dog-walking route in reverse, cleaning it up, and then got ready for meeting and work.

I go to Rogue Valley Networking Toastmasters meetings nearly every Monday from 10:30-11:30 AM, speaking and listening to others speak about business and life.  We take different roles each week; this week, I was Toastmaster, directing the meeting.  Anyone may drop in to the Board Room at the Guild Building on Mondays that aren’t holidays to sit in on a meeting; after three visits, you are eligible to join, if you are old enough.

I highly recommend Toastmasters to anyone who wants to learn to speak more confidently and listen more closely to people in business and government.  Ironically, I’m doing a lot less speaking than I used to at public meetings these days .  Like the song says, “The less I say the more my work gets done.”*

Between the meeting and getting lunch, I didn’t get to work again until about 1:00.  Intersections are the worst; I parked first in Ewing’s parking lot and started on the Southwest corner of 6^th and Bridge, working up Bridge a little ways and down 6^th a good half-block.  I proceeded to the Northwest corner in front of 7-11, but didn’t go far either direction from the corner.  The block beckoned.

I’d gathered maybe half a bucket by that time, mostly butts and some broken glass.  It didn’t take long to fill it along Bridge Street in the landscaping.  That’s where the larger litter gathers; among shrubs, grass, and bits of weediness.  I moved my truck to the other side of the street, got a fresh bag and continued along Bridge, cleaning the landscaping and roadside.  This business is between a convenience store and a gas station on a major walking route; it gets hit hard.

The same goes for the 6^th and 7^th Street sides, with people heading to and from the bridge, Riverside Park, and points beyond.  I filled two bags along Bridge, and another halfway down the 7^th Street side, cutting back through the parking lot to put the last in my truck.  Then I proceeded down the 6^th Street side to Voorhies, moving the truck further down once and filling another bag along the way.  I moved the truck to the other side of 7^th Street in a restaurant parking lot; picked up on my way out; worked east on Voorhies, filling part of a bag, and then north on 7^th to the driveway where I’d stopped earlier, finishing that bag and part of one, having to cross to my truck each time I filled a bag and got a fresh one. 

It was getting late and a bit chilly.  I decided to work up to the corner again; cross east; and work south on the other side of 7^th to my truck.  The hedges there are full of trash, very handy to hide stuff in. 

I met some guys walking the other direction as I filled up my bucket and handed one a leaflet; one said that I’d taken on a big job.  He was right; I filled my bucket long before finishing that hedge and quick-walked to the truck.  The rest must wait for next Sunday.

I drove to the Courier parking lot; deposited two bags in the can; picked up another half-bag in their lot; and took the rest down to the Downtown Visitors Center trash cans, two in one and two in another, before picking up around the Center and dropping it in a can.  I must say that the area around the Center has been much cleaner these days; there wasn't much to pick up.

*Elton John, Philadelphia Freedom

Cleaning Up Here and There

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Driving home from Schroeder, I stopped at the Intersection of the Redwoods; picked up the week’s accumulated litter on both sides of Redwood Avenue where people wait for the light; worked toward Redwood Highway to the guardrail; and picked up a pile of broken auto glass behind the light pole.  I then pulled out my blower, and blew off as much gravel from the roadway into the triangle as I could with the power available in my batteries. 

Here’s betting that, next week, the butts will at least be thrown farther off the road, into the gravel.  Maybe I’ll start sweeping it up and dumping it in the ditch across the road next week.

My next project of the day was picking up litter on the east side of the 6^th Street Caveman Bridge, starting at the nearest corner, preparatory to cleaning it.  I was partway down the bridge from Voorhies when I got called away to give someone a ride home from across the river.  By the time I got home, I had decided that the block bounded by 6^th, Voorhies, 7^th, and Bridge was driving me nuts with the amount of litter on it, and the cleaning of the Caveman Bridge could wait until next Monday.

I had to go babysit by 4:30, but I learned that my grandson had cleaned his room early on the hope that I would take him for a walk, picking up trash.  So I went over there about an hour early and cleaned with him along N Street for a while before his mama went to work.

Raking Chips at Schroeder

February 2, 2014

After taking pictures of the mess at The Rocks and picking up several grocery bags of litter there, I went on to Schroeder dog park, finding a park ranger emptying trash cans from inside the big pen.  He allowed me to add my bags to a bag in his cart, and I moved on to look for litter inside the pens, this not being weeding season yet. 

It’s nice that Schroeder has two dog pens, one for big dogs and one for small.  Little dogs tend to be aggressive, and it is best to keep them separated from big dogs that can kill them with one shake.  It also allows one to take a larger aggressive dog in the small dog pen if no small dogs are around.

I think that weeding classes are going to be from March-October only; there’s too little action in February, even with some things blooming earlier than I’ve ever seen them.   I took my signs down a few weeks ago because of schedule changes and because they need a better font.  I’ll put up new ones before March.

I found a few butts and dog piles.  It was Super Bowl Sunday, and nobody else was there.  I picked up a bit around the parking lot and up the road, and policed the new playground.  

Schroeder Park's new playground, next to the dog park, before raking.  Someone left a sweater draped over the bench; I left it as well.

The fresh wood chips had been heaped deep around the equipment and in the open space by kids playing, and I decided to rake them flat.  A couple of boys came by on bikes and played on the equipment, escaping zombies, while I raked around them.  By the time I finished around the equipment, I decided that the other half could wait until next week.  It was time to move on.

Signs of Prospecting at The Rocks

February 1-2, 2014

Saturday is the day for Greenwood dog park weeding class, from 9:00-10:00 at this season, as well as picking up litter along my dog-walking route at first light.  As I walked along the route in my vest without Petey, I quickly realized that it would take at least two walks to pick up the route thoroughly, going my normal direction one day, and working the opposite side of the street the next. 

I ended up doing the other part of the route on Monday, because I had to be at the Schroeder Dog Park at 9:00 AM for Sunday weeding class, and I took Petey to The Rocks, across the river from Schroeder boat landing, first.  It’s a popular, though unofficial, fishing and recreation spot that farmer Kudlac signed over to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife a few years ago.  ODFW tried to block the entrance, but the log was pushed out of the way, and a new trail was pushed through the blackberries for emphasis.  

I’ve been bringing Petey there and cleaning the litter out of it most Sundays for the last 4 years.  I occasionally report major dumping to the county or state; there was a pickup load dumped in the middle of the place last year, and a couch in early January.

This Sunday, I saw much sign of someone digging for gold among the Rocks: big holes and small on the downstream side of boulders; cleaning out the cracks between the granite bedrocks; and one big, round hole.  He left the dirt scattered and piled everywhere, ignorant of the rules for mining or care for other users.  I took photos and sent an e-mail to ODFW this morning.  

He dug down a good foot here. 

 A relatively small hole.

This hole is about 3 feet wide and deep.

 A dug-out trail.

 A view of the devastation down the hill; round hole on left, dirt thrown center.