Surprise Packages

Friends. I normally like to spend time talking about and photographing all the amazing things to see and hear long the Greenway trail: cardinals and chickadees singing, coneflowers and compass plant blooming in the summer, bees and butterflies buzzing and fluttering.

It's a joy to walk along the trail on a bright spring day and see so many people from the area biking, walking, jogging. Many a dog is treated to its daily constitutional on the trail...and with them comes today's plea.

Please, please, pick up after your dog! Not only is it the responsible thing to do for your pet and your neighbors, it is the law.

City Code 8.4.6.H:
Solid Waste Removal: Any person who shall walk an animal on public or private property shall provide for the disposal of the solid waste material excreted by the animal by immediate removal of the waste, except for animals properly trained and certified to assist persons with disabilities while such animals are acting in such capacity.

I understand, I really do, that it is a hassle to bag your dog's poop and carry it with you. I understand, but don't condone, just leaving the pile in the grass alongside the trail, for some unwitting photographer to kneel in when trying to get a closer look at an interesting bug on a leaf. It happens, and nature will eventually take care of the problem.
 
 What is utterly confounding, however, are the bagged piles that are knotted and tossed into the planted Greenway cells, there to remain in brightly-colored plastic glory, until some poor sap volunteering time to pick up trash has to fish them out and dispose of them properly. Some bags even end up dangling from tree branches near where woodpeckers and sparrows make their nests in the summer.

Are the bags marketed as degradable? If so...they are not. At least not within any reasonable timeframe. Where do you, baggy-hurlers, think the bundles will go after being tossed? Is it an effort to thoughtfully prevent the waste from being an unsightly mess alongside the trail, with the tradeoff being a longer-lasting unsightly mess a bit further from the trail? The thought is a kind one, though the effects are perhaps not as intended.

The simple fact is, the Greenway--like all our public parks and natural areas--is our shared home. We are all responsible for keeping it in order, and we all benefit when it is properly maintained and cared for. We wouldn't throw bagged waste in our backyard, or our neighbor's backyard, or on the sidewalk downtown. The Greenway deserves the same respect. Please be considerate with our shared spaces for everyone's enjoyment. It's the right thing to do!

Bonus(?) shot of an inexplicable pair
of socks hung in a shrub to dry.