Mad Town Mondays VII: Trash Day

I can't believe this is now an edition of Mad Town Wednesday! Everything is still all shook up from the holiday last week. I haven't even gotten all the dishes done from our big party. I have had a sick and teething baby though, so I guess I have some excuse. Does it take anyone else 10 days to recover from a holiday?!

Mad Town Mondays VII: Trash Day

Here in the quirky town of Madison, people just throw their large trash items onto the curb. In half the google street view images you'll see of this town have junk in the front yard. Theoretically,  the city will eventually come pick them up.  However, sometimes they just sit there FOREVER. For instance, our handyman came and butchered trimmed our trees in late April and again at the beginning of May. The pile in front of our house got so high, that you couldn't see our car parked on the other side of the pile (Why didn't I take a picture of that?!) and he had to stop and wait for it to get picked up before he could do anymore trimming. Well, we waited and waited and waited but they never came. It was still there when my family came to visit for Memorial Day. Finally this week the handyman hauled half of it away.We'll see how long it takes the other half to disappear...

Although this does nothing for the beautification of the city, it is quite neat in several ways. For one, nobody has to worry about those obnoxious items they would otherwise have to haul to the dump. So it saves people from being sick jerks who dump stuff in inappropriate places like the river. But what is really neat about it is that it harbors a feeling of cooperation and community. People throw things on the curb not expecting the city to pick it up but for people who actually want it to come pick it up.

Yesterday, I picked up the desk I am writing this at, a car seat, and a rocking chair from the side of the road.The desk was just too cute to pass up and it's nice to have an extra work station but the rocking chair I sorely needed, since we haven't had one since we moved from California. The car seat I almost didn't pick up because it's purple and poor Indy doesn't need to be in another girly car seat but how can you pass up a perfectly functional item that saves you $50-$100 just for the sake of vanity?!

All of Madison seems to have a desire to share things. And although this might simply be due to them not wanting anything put into a landfill for the sake of the environment, I still find it delightful and refreshing. A few weeks ago, our stake did a clothing/whatever-you-don't-want swap. Everyone just brought their unwanted stuff to the stake center and picked up whatever they wanted. It was amazing! The entire gym was full and I found so many great things that I had been looking for. I picked up a Jeep stroller, a baby gate, a filing cabinet, a doorway jumper, several gospel books, a statue of Christ, some wall decor, a baby walker/tricycle, a baby carrier for my bike, a laundry basket, some clothes for Indy, a pack & play, and a blue glass vase from Poland. I had to play Tetris to fit it all into my car! I almost felt guilty taking so many great things for free but you know what I heard people say the most? I'm so glad to have that cleaned out of my house! Now don't bring anything home! For them it was a chance to simplify and for me it was a chance to get some needed things. For me it felt nice to get those things for free, but it felt even better seeing a community come together like that. It renewed my hope for the future and reminded me that even if we aren't living the full United Order right now, we can still fulfill the spirit of the Law of Consecration and prepare to live it right now.

I'm grateful to live in a town that can put aside appearances for a moment for the good of its citizens and the growth of a sense of community.