Walkin' the Dog

A friend of mine once said blogging is like walkin’ the dog – fun at first, but once you're committed, you're out there, rain or shine.

 So here I go.

I want to write about neighborhoods in the City of Manassas.  And people.  And issues relating to neighborhoods.  And all the things that make up a community and a place to call home.

Like picking up litter.  Every morning I walk my dog, Oscar.  He’s a terrier-mix from the animal adoption shelter on Dean Drive.  A little dog who acts like he's big.  He greets children at bus stops and chases squirrels.  He sniffs Bubba and Winston and the other dogs we meet, while I talk with the owners.

We walk to Soul’s Harbor Church or Weems Elementary School or the length of Fort Drive and back.  On Sundays, when traffic is light, we walk up and down Portner Avenue.

Everywhere we go, I pick up litter:  Slurpee cups, fast food containers, napkins, cigarette butts, smokeless tobacco cans.   What I hate:  free newspapers (heavy with rainwater and rotting in plastic bags), broken glass, unwieldy newspaper bundle ties, bent hangers.  Dog waste left by other owners (scoop and bag it - it's the City code!).  

I've become compulsive about litter now.  I can’t walk across the Harris Teeter or City Hall parking lots without picking up a flattened cup or ripped chip bag.   

One small benefit:  I collect colorful bits I find, like a shiny barrette or a Lego or a broken tile.  I save them in a shoebox, and when the box is full, I leave it at the front desk in the Candy Factory for a local artist who uses them in collages.

One big benefit:   My neighborhood is cleaner.  A clean neighborhood attracts less crime.  That’s what I learned in Neighborhood Watch.  And less litter in the gutters of Weems community, means less litter washed down the storm drains and into the Sumner Lake pond.  I wouldn't want one neighborhood flushing litter into mine.

So consider taking a walk in your neighborhood.   Take a litter bag with you.  Smile and say hi to the people you encounter.  One of them might be me with Oscar!