Is something I had not thought about in many years. The phrase occurred to me about half way through my big loop walk around the Ragin Lane/India Hook walk this sunny Sunday.

Just below the multistory apartment complex for old people where Ragin meets India Hook, I stopped to bag up the trash I had accumulated on the walk. Near the the entrance to complex, an older man, perhaps my age, with a small white dog asked me if I were picking up trash. He did not feel well or look healthy but agreed the weather was good even if he was not.

I liked that. He did not have a phone and he was old enough to observe his surroundings rather than a phone screen and to strike up a conversation rather than turn away from a passerby. We talked a bit, though I struggled to understand him through his face mask. His hearing is a few notches worse than mine so I had to talk louder than my usual loud.

I asked, “Were you in the service?” He said, “Yes.” I furthered our conversation by asking if he remembered butt patrol. I detected a smile, mask or no mask.

We both remember standing at arms’ length from soldiers to the left and right to move slowly over ground on military posts. Civilians might not know this but trash is not allowed on base. If a superior can see something that is not dirt or a blade of grass, it must be picked up and pocketed for latter disposal. Cigarette butts do not litter military installations.

He still picks up butts at the entrance to his apartment complex where residents skirt the no smoking rule and we both agreed that cleaning all along prevents excessive littering.

Below are two photos of my trash board: one from early 2020 when I began it and one from today, June 5, 2022. What most people do not realize is that trash endures.

My trash board is an attempt to visualize the staying power of trash. Most–make that all–of the plastic items will outlive me. Small, thin pieces of plastic trash may become invisible to the naked eye but do not decay beyond microscopic balls of petroleum formulations that get tangled into the food chain.

I suppose most people think my picking up trash and putting it on display is odd, but I know from my butt patrol days that it is Army normal.