Hey Asshole! I am Talking to ya!

(Note: I usually try to focus on only the positive aspects of nature in order to stir a feeling of awe and respect in a world where it seems vastly forgotten in our daily lives --- this post is not in the usual pattern but I was so moved I wanted to share...)
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Today I was pulling invasive Kudzu vines from the side of the road to make baskets with, when I walked back to my truck and loaded the vines in I had a strong urge to go down into the large beautiful creek below and play in the water. The ledge to get down there was somewhat steep and I held on tight to strong tree saplings - when something caught me off guard. Trash. Tons of fucking trash carelessly and selfishly thrown over the side of the road, strewn about the bank of the creek and in the water! (see pic up top)

The closer I got to all the bags of trash and realized the vastness and quantity that had been thrown overboard in sheer ignorance - the more sick I was. Not cause it was just rotten and gross, not cause of the smell, not cause the the bottles of chemicals that were seeping into the soil - but because i was heart sick, sick in a way so deep into my soul that I started crying.

I tried thinking of the different types of people in the world objectively (to help me stay calm).... that there were three types of people in this situation:

• The people who litter.
• The people who notice the litter and are appauled.
• The people who see the litter and clean it up even though it's not theirs.

I used to be in the second group. But seeing this pushed me into the third group... I plan on going back this week with gloves and bags to clean this shit up. Anyone want to come?

I wanted to yell at who ever did this, and the only way to begin to stop hating the stupid mutha' F*cker was to tell myself this was some poor old man who didn't know any better- but I am gonna say to anyone who has eyes, anyone who breathes, anyone who walks the earth, anyone who lives surrounded in nature as we do in this rural part of the mountains....

How in the name of fuckin' gawd could ANYONE think it is alright to dump your household trash into creeks, water, life force ---- HOW can the stark contrast between the beauty of nature and the garbage not be seen? I think it's impossible unless this poor person who dumped this trash is BLind... in which case they shouldn't be driving on curvy mountain roads carrying bags of garbage.

What is even sicker, is our local dump is only a few more miles down the road and is open a few days a week! There was no way me or any other person who stopped there to admire the power and grace of Spring Creek was going to touch that water with detergents and who knows WTF shit sitting in it.

I felt the very spirit of human history cry - this is only a small example of the HUGE amounts of trash we are making, disposing. The even deeper thought that eventually occured to me through my tears and anger, was once we bring this trash to the proper dump - it simpley goes into landfills and continues to be destructive.

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People, we have GOT TO reduce the amount of trash we are creating! We have to stop buying things, giving into the modern push, stop keeping up with the freakin' JOnes'es over at the local walmart, filling up your houses and garages with things eventually meant for the 'trash'- stop buying so much packaged unfresh foods, so many plastic products!!

Get a life, and start learning how to make things, learn some DIY skillz, learn about upcycling, learn how to repair your shoes instead of buy new ones, thrift shop and stop supporting slave labor industries, stop dumping toxic chemicals down your drains and lathering that shit on your skin, THEN get off the internet and go take a walk in the woods and remember that without our natural resources we are dead. Literally. No clean water = no life for humans. And humans are a beautiful part of the natural world.

(btw- click on the pic below for leslie's mad face bigger and more real. )

**You fuck up my swimming creek..... I am gonna dig your address out your stupid garbage pile and report you to the county! F U stranger.**

xoxoxox

Asheville Botanical Gardens Part 2

Last time I went to the Asheville Botanical Gardens it was Spring- going once a season is so cool because every time the place is entirely different. The summer is lush, bugs are everywhere, little fishies are swimming in the creek... and maybe cause of the drought the creek is a wee bit foul smelling. But this butterfly was so worth the trip.

I am not fond of trash in the creek, especially when it's rusting metal. My friend put it in his backpack to dispose of properly.

This rock was obviously carved by the water into this perfect little center stage for posing. I kind of wish I looked like Olivia Newton John in this pic, but there is no resemblance. Darn.

The butterfly made a friend ... :)

Eco Peeve Friday: Toxic Yard Trash

Ever since moving to more rural parts of the US, I noticed a huge increase in the careless amounts of toxic trash strewn about people's property. Leaky gasoline cans, motor fluid, anti freeze, rusted bottles of who knows what- I have seen batteries, spray paint cans, soda cans and other toxic metals thrown into creeks that are contaminating the water. Even in places so remote, so pristine and so beautiful you would never expect to come across a sudden dump pile of one family's old appliances, paint cans and billions of plastic bottles. Especially coffee to go cups. GAWD! People let's get real, how hard is it to bring our trash to the designated dumping area in our community!? One of the worst I ever saw was here in the Smokey Mountains, there was a beautiful large river that me and my friends would go swim in (in spite of the water snakes)... it was like a fantasy fairy land for me compared to growing up in dirty New Orleans. Until one day we went for a relaxing day at the river and it was roped off with signs "private property" and the owner had turned it into a dump, literally. Car parts, 18 wheeler parts, trash, metal scraps, and other random shit filled up the bank of the river. Sadness.
Can people of the USA not be educated about the earth, is it so important to teach all our other distortions of history, math, P.E., Grammar and whatever, only for the kids to finally turn to a polluted world to make a future in? Kids of all ages, gender, and class need to know that paper comes from trees, that gasoline isn't good for the soil, that animals and fish eat plastic litter, that pesticides poison our food chain and that WE do have the power to clean up the mess (and certainly to stop making it worse).