Dear Reader:

Like many other residents of Summerville… I was wondering if the garbage would ever get picked up again. It wasn’t just the snow/ice storm delay…our neighborhood garbage was never picked up the whole week before the storm, then after the storm and then after New Years…over three weeks with no pick-up. Summerville would soon be turning into “Smelly Summerville in the Pines.”

Except for strangely…recyclables. Last Friday, January 5th, our neighborhood heard a marvelous sound…the sound of the garbage truck. I texted the neighbors to let them know it was coming to our street…only to be dismayed that they were just picking up the recyclables and not the long-term food garbage…which was the aroma culprit…not the plastics, papers, and glass.

Still shaking my head…I told my neighbors to stuff more bags in my garbage can (since I had been in Mt. Pleasant for a week and mine was emptier)…but then miraculously late Friday afternoon…the old, old food garbage got picked up! Hallelujah.

I went out to thank the garbage helpers and tell them how much the neighborhood was going to be grateful for the pick-up. I didn’t mention the long, inexplicable, delay before and after the storm…but just simply thanked them for picking it up.

When I first went out with my Iphone I think they were nervous…thinking I was going to berate them and the company…I could almost feel them bracing for it…but when I thanked them instead…an almost visible shudder of relief crossed their faces and slumped shoulders…they must have had their “fill” of negativity that long day.

When they left Vickie sneaked out of her home and put up all our garbage cans…Our”Rainbow” street looked clean and pretty again…and this neighborly gift made me so appreciative of the fact that I have such amazing, caring neighbors.

It, also, made me very aware of how much we depend on town resources to keep Summerville the beautiful hometown we all love.

As I was skimming through the anecdotes from  (101 Ways to Be Young at Any Age) I came across “The Law of the Garbage Truck.” When it is applies to the people around us…it takes on a different but powerful meaning.

“Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, full of stress, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it on you. We need to not take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish others well, and move on. Don’t take other’s garbage and spread it to other people.

The bottom line is that grounded and happy people do not let “garbage trucks” take over their day and steal their joy. Life is too fleeting to let this happen. So…love the people who treat you right and even save some love for the people who don’t. 

Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you react to it. Have a garbage-free day!”

So until tomorrow…Be kind to others…who knows if one act of random kindness might be someone else’s memory forever.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

 *Hemingway was right when he said “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” 

I am re-reading one of Louise Penny’s books and in it I re-discovered this Martin Luther King, Jr. quote which is just as, or perhaps more, applicable today than when first uttered. Food for thought.

“We live in a world of guided missiles and misguided men.” 

Today…let us remember Martin Luther King, Jr. with this Gandhi quote…

“Your beliefs become your thoughts

Your thoughts become your words

Your words become your actions

Your actions become your destiny.”

How important it is today to share basic core beliefs about fundamental right-doings that humanity can share and endorse as all children of our Creator.