Cans Kibosh

The kids' recycling career has come to a full and complete halt.  No, it was not the nosy "you guys are liars, that is a different front door" neighbor that came to Randy on Monday, asking if we'd gotten it OK'd by the HOA for our kids to "solicit around the neighborhood," after seeing three cute kids pulling their wagon around to friends' homes to collect their garbage.  It was a simple sign placed directly next to the entrance of the Bottle Drop, alerting all who entered that the Bottle Drop was for Oregon residents only, specifically calling out and "forbidding" residents of Kennewick and Richland, WA.  I tell you what, I felt a heavy blanket of guilt and anxious nerves weigh me down as we walked in, knowing we were breaking rules we didn't know about before that second.

In 2009, Randy got a Christmas present of dreams: a Husky and Wolf Hybrid puppy.  He'd put a down payment on it many months before it was born, was able to secure first choice once they were born, and got weekly updates on how his puppy was coming along.  On the day that the puppy was ready, Randy drove from Casper, Wyoming to St. George, Utah and back in one day, with the puppy on his lap the entire way home.  He was in HEAVEN!!!  The week after was SO MUCH FUN.  Magnum was the best puppy ever.  2-year old Shelby and 1-year old Brennon could pick him up at any time- many times around the neck- and the puppy would just calmly sink into a "happy place" state and allow them to carry him around.  Sadie, our 2-year old Yellow Lab, took that little puppy as her own.  Many times we'd watch the puppy start to kind of whine a little bit, and she'd jump into action, mothering that babe as if it was her own.  It was the best week with that sweet little puppy.  Until we took him to the vet, the vet that just one month before gave us permission to have that kind of dog in the state of Wyoming, the vet that the week after we got him told us to lie to everyone if they asked what kind of dog it is because they would have the right to shoot it on sight, no questions asked, if they found out it was part wolf.  We are not liars.  We follow the rules.  Hence, Randy asking the actual vet if there were any laws against wolf hybrids BEFORE he put the down payment on him!  We had a very difficult choice to make.  Ultimately it resulted in Randy making that euphoric drive to-and-back-from-St. George-in-a-day in reverse.  He returned his Magnum because we want our kids to know that following the rules and telling the truth is important and sometimes very, very hard.  We are honest with our fellow men.

My kids had worked very hard to collect every single one of those cans, bottles, and jugs!  Monday, they collected them in 100+ degree weather, coming home with red cheeks and sweaty foreheads.  We didn't know what we were doing was "illegal," we just wanted a way for our kids to earn money that was close to home while we nursed one of our kids to health.  How could I tell them to pack it all back in the Yukon (and I mean pack-- we had to cram the vehicle full, with bags under legs even) and head home without their promised, earned money?  So we allowed it just this one time.  And then we drove home discussing the reasons that we would no longer be collecting, and how sometimes doing the right thing is hard.  They enjoyed earning money this way.  They loved counting the bottles and cans, taking a tally as they methodically placed them in categories, watching the numbers increase each Monday.  I think they even loved the freedom of walking around the neighborhood to their friends' houses without mom and dad with them (we only allowed them to collect from people we know, and even then, only two out of our immediate sight).  Four "clients" in all, but they still made $59.20 this summer!

And so ends The Summer of the Collected Cans.  Sad.