From the archives: Spring Cleanup 2006
It was time again for the strange spectacle of spring cleanup. During the first week of May the city allows residents to go over the 2 garbage-can limit and I scour through the basement, dig in the garage, and generally hem and haw over whether I should keep that empty box or broken floor lamp just more year. That in itself is not so strange because I'm generally a packrat and I like to keep things "just in case." What's truly strange is the parade of vehicles that comes through our neighborhood from early in the morning to late in the evening the day before the city crews come to pick up the extra garbage. Every spring cleanup tops the last and this year is no different. It's worse than Hallowe'en because at least on Hallowe'en the cars only come for a few hours. This year I noticed that in addition to the steady stream of cars, there was actually foot traffic: people out for a pleasant walk on a sunny Sunday afternoon, perusing the selection of unwanteds...