I'm an early riser, and lately even more so, rolling out of bed ready to rock and roll around 4am. I should've really been a dairy farmer.
So, it's not like I'm waking up tired, I'm ready to rock, so I have been getting up and reading some online papers, ready for the slightest crack in the night, so I can take Jake on a two mile jog interrupted continuously by the pee and poop needs of Jake, although when you think about it, it's awfully suspicious that he can hold it all day, but go for a little run and he has to go like 16 times.
Well, today I saddled up and hit the road around 5 and just as I was getting started I see some frickin' person off in the distance with a bright orange hat and gloves - not a typical sight on lonely Crawford Road. So I give him a wave and Jake gives him a ridiculous non-threatening growl and we continue into the fresh dry morning towards Mail Road. We hit, rotate and return back only to run into this guy again, and he's bending over picking up trash off the side of the road.
Being fully invested in Sullivan, having someone pick up litter, alone, on the side of the road, at 5am, really worked for me, so I stopped and chatted and he said he covers 4 miles of road and walks it once a week picking up litter.
That's a quiet hero to me.
And we have places like the NACL experimental theater, we have Chris and Matt donating money to the local farmers market to keep it viable and growing, we have the 85 acre farm that serves as education center for hundreds of local kids, we have the amazing Foodstock each year, and the Bob Dylan music marathon at the hydropowered community radio station and a million other efforts that make this place spin.
It's not gaudy, but it's real. And I'll take real any day of the week.
No comments:
Post a Comment