A Two Subject Blog

TOPIC ONE

I often walk my two adorable grand dogs.  They are both chihuahua blends...aka mutts.  They have larger than life personalities.  One is a beautiful reddish brown, and the other is a long hair with white fur.

As we stroll I constantly find reminders that humanity has walked the path before me.  Not pleasant reminders.  It is crazy to me in this age of enlightenment how many candy wrappers, pop cans, plastic containers of all types, etc. etc.I find.  I often wonder if those that left their trash behind had a good mom that taught them to pick up after themselves.

I had a terrific mom.  On the other hand, you did not want to leave things just lying about in our house.  A place for everything and everything in its place was a motto that I often heard.  Our home was humble but it was tidy.  We did not leave things lying about!

Mom took her responsibility as a world citizen very seriously.  She composted, long before such a thing was popular.  She shopped mostly at thrift stores.  Sometimes she would repurpose or recycle clothing into other items.  When curbside recycling came along my mom was delighted.  It made her so happy to know that things would get a second life.

TOPIC TWO

I pick up trash as I walk about with our darling doggies.  The trash that is the most common?  Cigarette butts.  This baffles me.  We KNOW that cigarette smoking is incredibly toxic to the human body.   Breathing is a rather important function of our bodies.  Why would we take any risks of making that difficult?

I was born with severe allergy asthma.  There was only one treatment for asthma, give oxygen and hope that the attack will resolve.  I have lived for six decades very much aware of how important breathing is.  Sometimes each respiration hurts.  I am grateful that I no longer am surrounded by cigarette smoke in almost every public place.

My dear papa died from metastatic cancer.  He did  NOT smoke.  Not one cigarette in his life.  On the other hand he worked for 25 years surrounded by chain smokers.  His type of cancer has now been linked to second hand smoke. If you don't care about your own health, what about the health of your family, friends, and co-workers?  Second hand smoke contributes significantly to respiratory issues, ear infections, sinus infections, and other health concerns of children of smokers.

Why would anyone think that it was ok to smoke a cigarette, and then drop it on the ground, stamp it out, and leave it where it dropped?  Animals, small children, and the very ground under our feet can be harmed if this mess is left behind.  If you must stamp it out, pick up the remainder.  Put it in a trash can.  It is NOT compost material, it IS  trash.  

There is a happy resolution to this diatribe.  We can all improve.  Pick up after yourself!  If you smoke, put your cigarette butt in the trash after stamping it out.  Don't drop your trash out your car window, or along your walking path.  Remember that we are all on this planet together.  Let's keep it safe and lovely for ourselves, our family, and our friends.