Trash and Turkeys

We have a very inconsistent trash pickup service. When we first got it, we were supposed to have our trash at the curb 6:30 Monday morning. Well, they got so they weren't picking it up until 11:00 or so, often 1:00 or 2:00, and sometimes as late as 4:00. They almost always pick it up late (that is, not on Tuesday) after Monday holidays. After Labor Day this year, they didn't pick it up until late Thursday. The following Monday, they picked it up at 7:30, and we weren't even up yet. The next week, Mike put it out Sunday evening while I was at church (we hate to put it out overnight, because of the wild life around here - racoons & bears have been known to savage plastic garbage cans). The next week, we forgot, and we were hurriedly getting the trash together when the truck went by. I told Mike, sometimes they pick it up coming down the hill instead of going up, so we put it out anyway - and they did. Last night we got it out - remembered last thing before going to bed. They didn't show up until 8:30. I thought I heard the truck, and peeked out the front window. Sure enough, they were picking it up. But there were also about a dozen wild turkeys in our front yard at the time. It's about 2 weeks (I think) until turkey season. A hunting license is too expensive for just turkeys, and when the time comes, I doubt that they'll be around.

(Originally posted October 2, 2006)