One of the best things about having a house is having a yard. It took a bit of getting used to having so much outdoors space, but it just feels right now. Naturally I was so grateful that one of my pledges was to take care of my lawn and the surrounding area. In particular, I felt it was important to make sure that the lawn was well kept up and that litter and other garbage was promptly taken care of. Naturally, I wasn’t able to gage the extent of this commitment at the time.

In the following 6 months I religiously strolled around our property at all hours of the day and night picking up the misplaced plastic bags, yogurt containers and other unsightly garbage that the neighbourhood deposits on our lawn. Despite the large number of pets in the area I only ended up moving animal waste on two occasions.

For me, the toughest part of the task of picking up after strangers is picking up their cigarette butts. These little butts are particularly nasty as they have that unmistakable stench of smoke on them. One time I left them in my back pocket and couldn’t get he smell out of my pants and our couch for days.

Perhaps it is because I can imagine the candour with which the smoker casually discards their litter on my lawn that makes the task even more distasteful. I don’t smoke and don’t really know anyone that does.

Observation: there is no predominant brand of cigarettes left on our lawn. :/

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