Amanda has alerted everyone that curbside recycling started today. I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about shelling out my monthly dues and since then I have been diligently placing my mixed paper in a brown paper bag and my plastics, glass and cans into my old blue, Morial inscribed recycling container. I have been so good. I've rinsed everything and carefully separated and discarded any caps that were not recyclable. I flattened my cardboard boxes and stacked them beside my recycling bin. Last night I brought out two brown paper bags full of mixed paper, my blue bin and a small stack of corrugated cardboard. I lined it up neatly at the side of the road, ready for pickup. I proudly left my bundle and headed inside for the night.

This morning I stepped outside and noticed that my blue bin was not where I left it, in fact it was on top of a lumber pile. The rest of my carefully laid recycling had been run over by my carpenter's truck and was stuck underneath his trailer. Plastic bottles rolled in the street and my pristine brown paper bags were covered in muck. I salvaged what I could and replaced it on the side of the road. I just know that come the end of the day it's all going into my big green trash can despite my best intentions.