Things You Keep

So today is Earth Day. No matter where you live, what you do, what language you speak, or what your beliefs are, the Earth is the one thing we ALL have in common.

In that spirit of ecology (and with a big thanks to PC Magazine), here's how you recycle your old computer, when you finally get rid of it. Also check out one of these, or all three:

Earth 911. Cool site about all kinds of eco-things, including a program that plants a tree for every cell phone you recycle.
My Green Electronics. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink.
Where to Recycle Your Electronics. If you live in the U.S., anyway.

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AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

I grew up in the late 1940s and '50s with very practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycling queen, before they had a name for it. My father was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good, their dreams were focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can still see them: Dad in trousers, tee shirt, and a felt hat. Mom in a house dress. Dad had a lawn mower in his hands, Mom is holding a dish towel. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress -- things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew you could always afford more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck by the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes what we care about most gets all used up and goes away, never to return.

So, while we have it, it's best we love it ... and care for it ... and fix it when it's broken ... and heal it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage ... and old cars ... and children with bad report cards ... dogs with bad hips ... aging parents ... and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

Some things you keep.

[originally seen in Mikey's Funnies; words massaged and nudged a little by Mark Raymond]

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WORDS for YOUR WEEK: "For 200 years we've been conquering Nature. Now we're beating it to death." (Tom McMillan)

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