First Community Event Complete!

On Monday February 10th from 1pm to 3pm WARPIG Foundation fulfilled an initial goal and obligation agreed upon with VDOT! The first cleanup of the calendar year was undertook regardless of weather and day of the week. Here are some afterthoughts.

First of all thank you to anyone who reads or participates in this endeavor I have unleashed! 

I started my day with some extra duty to satisfy the boss, and I don’t mean the traffic court I had, I mean help around the house with my spouse. I then escaped with a commuted sentence to gather all the gear I would need. While VDOT can provide some items, I did have some trouble getting in contact last week and just provided my own fluorescent outerwear , trash bags, water and etc. I parked my truck at Seaford Country Market at the beginning of our adopted stretch (my goal is to obtain the entire road at some point) and began my trek. 

For the first half mile I thought it was going to be easy sailing, just some cigarette butts and some random paper. Then the roadside became wooded and no longer lined with driveways. I suppose those that litter may not respect the environment, but at least more so people’s homes. I went another tenth of a mile before my first bag was full. 

My first thought here brought me to a realization that litter that lines the road is so much like our PTSD. The life we live is the road we travel. During this trip we have memories and experiences throughout and sometimes these leave little traces of traumatic memories. All this litter on the side of the road is from so many strangers and some big-some small. Just like what we go through some things effect us more than others but all in all they remain there on the side of our road. The road you need to adopt is your own life and take responsibility of keeping yourself beautiful. You don’t have to do that alone, volunteers come into your life and make it easier sometimes and sometimes it’s only you on the side of the road with a bag full of trash. 

When I took that first break to sip some water out of my backpack and get a new trash bag since my first one was full, I noticed something small. A small scrap of paper lying a foot or so away. This would still fit in the first bag so I grabbed it and read its message. It meant something to me immediately. Underlined three times on this sticky note was KINDNESS. How ironic this was in this moment. The other two things less poignant,(coffee, jacket) but I needed all three today. How lucky I am to have the warmth of all three in my life. Coffee to start my day on a cold morning, a jacket to keep me warm on the side of the road and dry from the weather, and most importantly KINDNESS . I have the warmth of kindness from so many in my life from friends and family. I want anyone reading this that WARPIG counts you as their family and if you feel cold inside or out then you are here with us and we have your back. 

I put that note in my pocket instead of my trash bag and looked up to a car slowing down. The car rolled down its window and thanked me for what I was doing and I told them about our cause. They had sons that were firefighters and I gave our website to invite more members to our growing community. 

I started again down the road and the next bag was filled in only a 0.1 mile! I think I want to make fun video at some point tallying the favorite drink of litterbugs by type of can. They sure do like a booze cruise down there I suppose. Without counting I think Coors is the non official sponsor at this point of finding its way out the car window. Fast food was a tie between Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s. 

I found some weird items too. A plank of wood with a small cat door, ( maybe the kitten became a tiger ) , a metal tube for holding your rod and reel, and a single camo Croc slide. Who throws a shoe?!

I was surprised I amassed so much in such a short time and the bigger surprise was that during bag three I found the other matching Croc….

Man those random swamp grasses have thorns ! Grabbing some cans out got me a few times,but didn’t stop me. Soon enough 3pm came and I ventured back to the truck for pick up. 

On my way back another person stopped to thank me and while thanks isn’t the reason of doing this, it does feel good to be appreciated and to spread the word of WARPIGs message. 

All that being said, our first of the year is reported to VDOT and while we aim for more than two a year- we only need one more to get our blue sign. This one was scheduled the way it was due to proximity to 02/08 as I posted about previously. The next action will be a weekend on better weather where people can have more opportunities to attend. The thing about taking action in this world though we must remember that waiting for the perfect moment in life regardless if it’s weather , day of the week, or when you think you are ready to improve yourself, you need to just take that first step or risk never making a move.