One of my favorite places to jog is a stretch of road to the west of my home. The road is in pretty bad shape. You can tell it has definitely experienced some growing pains. There are long cracks running through the middle of it which recently has been patched up with thick black tar. You could say the road “had a little work done,” I suppose. Personally, I think it adds character to the old worn street. With the exception of a few houses this lone street is virtually undeveloped. To the right and left of this road are trees and roaming cattle. It gives me the feeling of being back in East Texas, in the country, which I had the opportunity to call home for six years.

Lately my jogs have not been quite as enjoyable. Today my outdoor excursion left me angry and ashamed. The reason why is this…litter. This is what I saw just today: beer cans galore , tons of cigarette butts, trash bags that were once full but now lay empty beside what was once inside, three broken ladders of different sizes , a damaged ironing board, many nails, broken glass in several places (from glass beer bottles), candy wrappers, soda cans, and last but not least, a small weathered Bible. Who are you that have illegally adopted this beautiful trail for your own personal waste basket and why do you so brazenly toss your garbage out of your vehicle unto the Earth for the entire world to see and step over? My daughter and I choose this path when we take our pets for a stroll. Imagine how difficult it is for her and I to discourage the dogs from partaking in your weekend party leftovers which you have made the choice to discard in my neighborhood. Mr. Litterbug, were you aware that cigarette litter can linger in our environment for up to twenty years. Did you know that the mere act of tossing your trash onto the ground could potentially harm many innocent animals? Do you even care?

Look, I seek this road at times for a place of refuge….not too smell your refuse. And let me tell you this, maybe you live under the “no cop, no crime" mentality but I assure you one day someone will see you. And if it is me….I will report you. Also, there is this thing called Karma, Mr. Litterbug, and if you don’t quit destroying our environment yours will stink; just like the trash on my street.

One last thing, the name of this street is Scenic. I would bet it was given this name for a reason.