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October 1, 2018 Comments (0) journal

An Open Letter

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hope you enjoyed your recent trip to beautiful Baker Lake. Nestled in the jagged country of the ethereal North Cascades, just south and east of glacier-swept Mount Baker, this deep, blue mountain lake is studded with campgrounds and boat launches, an excellent choice for a vacation spot, no doubt, and a good time for the whole family, I’m sure.

I absolutely understand your attraction to the area… I am right there with you. It’s fun to swim or boat here, up and down the lake, and it’s just as fun to sit by the shore and watch the sunlight play on the water. Might be fun to knock back a few beers too, as long as we’re there. The outdoors and beer: a great match, amirite?

And Doritos. Beer and Doritos. And some sandwiches and a KitKat bar. And the kids were apparently drinking Dr. Pepper and it looks like somebody had Sweet Tarts. And I know just where you sat, there on the point by Boulder Creek, because when you got up to leave, you just left all your crap behind. I don’t know who the next person to arrive on the scene was, but I do know that because of your sloppiness, their view wasn’t nearly as good.

But it’s ok. I got your stuff. I was up there this weekend with a couple of dozen other folks, camping and cleaning, combing the beaches, the campgrounds and the roadsides for all the things that you and others like you had chucked aside. I must admit, I got a little mad at you at first, for being the kind of a self-absorbed asshat that would travel all the way out here just to mess the place up.

But I don’t think that now. I figure you weren’t guilty of bad intentions as much as you had no intention at all, at least as regards the items that I retrieved. You weren’t thinking about it, that’s all. Nobody’s perfect.

So I’ll tell you what. How about next time, you come with us, dig along the muddy shores and in the underbrush for other people’s garbage, plastic and metal, bottles and cans? And empty Doritos bags. We definitely have room for more help and I promise you, once you’ve spent some time on trash patrol, once you are an active part of the solution, you will never be part of the problem again.

Sincerely…