Wind and the Recycling

Every Sunday night I set out my recycling for Monday morning curbside pickup. I do this the night before because the recycling pickup can be very early or very late and I don't want to miss the pickup. I pretty much recycle everything - junk mail, catalogs, cardboard and the usual plastics and aluminum. By doing this I only have to set out my regular trash every two or three weeks. I only bring this up because fall and winter around here can be pretty windy and windy doesn't always bode well for recycling containers or the stuff in them.

So let's go back to early this year. It was cold and when I put the recycling out, it was very calm. However, as often happens, sometime after midnight the wind started howling. Around 4am I heard the dreaded sound of a recycling container rolling down the sidewalk and all of its contents going with it. Well, the last thing I want is to have all my crap littering the neighborhood so what do I do? I get up, put on layers of clothes over my jammies, grab a coat and my flashlight and head outside to pick up the scattered cans and containers. I try to be pretty quiet because people are asleep and really, I don't want to be seen picking up crap at four in the morning. I've pretty much gotten every thing when I hear a door open and out comes my neighbor putting out his trash. He gives me a cheery wave and I wave back. You know, just like it's every day you see someone out in layers of clothes, picking up cans and containers at 4:30 in the morning.