Driveup Starbucks

It's 6:45 Monday night, and I'm pickin'.  Decided to walk to town as I'm never disappointed at the amount of junk waiting for pickup on the west side of Hwy. 7.  This night was no exception as there in the middle of the intersection of Stanley Avenue and Hwy. 7 was an 80-pound bag of Portland cement.  The bag was broken, and cement was piled high clogging up the intersection.  I tugged at the bag.  Ugh!  Even with part of the bag spread around, it was still pretty heavy.  Wouldn't you know if an 80-pound bag of Portland fell off the back of your truck?  Wouldn't you want to stop and salvage as much of the cement as you could?  Well, probably not considering an 80-pound bag costs only $4.90.  Time is money after all. 

You guys know the most common use for cement is production of concrete, right?  The name is derived from its similarity to Portland Stone, a building stone quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England.  The raw materials in Portland cement are calcium oxide, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, ferric oxide and magnesium oxide.  Pretty oxidious, huh?  Cement is one of 3 materials used to make concrete, the other 2 being sand and water.  So please don't confuse or use the words concrete and cement interchangeably, e.g. "Tommy, don't play in Aunt Alice's flower bed; stay on the cement." 

Anyway, a little sand, a little rain and this could turn into a real mess.  I couldn't just leave it there.  Dropping my black bag and picker at the curb, I lugged the half bag of cement to the side of the road.  At least that way no more trucks would make the bag their target.  What's a picker to do?  I made mental plans to come back for the rest, residue and remainder of the stuff at a later time, and I continued north on 7.

There is a completely different crowd out at 7:00 p.m. than at 6:00 a.m.  At 7 p.m. all the tourists are hurrying to their favorite restaurant.  At 6 a.m.--well, you know what?  There aren't really that many people out at that hour.  It's cool, quiet, and what in the world was I doing out pickin' past 7 p.m?  Tim and Brenda probably wondered the same thing as they zoomed past, their Jeep greeting me with several friendly beeps.  I checked the time.  7:40.  Lee had arranged earlier to pick me up at Starbucks at about 8:00.  What was I going to do for the next 20 minutes?  I guess I could always go inside and get a cup of water.  Oh, there's something to look forward to:  sitting alone by the river with my safety vest on drinking a Starbucks water.  Just as I was picturing this travesty, the Jeep pulled up beside me in the southbound lane.  There was Brenda handing me a grande latte and Tim asking if I needed sugar, napkins or a straw.  Friends do the most randomly wonderful things!  As suddenly as they had appeared, off they went with the largest smiles on their faces I've ever seen.

Change of plans.  I walked the 50 yards or so to the river behind Starbucks and sat there in my safety vest with my driveup Starbucks and MY great big smile!  I called Lee, and sweetheart that he is, came with the truck and a flat-nosed shovel to clean up the cement at Stanley Ave. and Hwy. 7 while I enjoyed my coffee.  We agreed to meet at the library parking lot.  Swallowing the last precious drop, I picked my way across the street.  A middle-aged man leaning against his car mused, "Ive never seen anyone picking up trash after dark.  Can you choose your own hours?  "Yes, I can," came my quick reply.

Always,
Winter