Things are not always what they seem…

 

My dog and I like to walk outdoors and “poke” around. The picker and a bag for trash is always something I carry with me – a habit from picking up garbage for over 20 years. The bag is never empty when we return after an outing. But, on this day, the pile of junk was “bigger than a bread box,” so to speak.

My brain switched off with utter disgust and anger and I hear my good trusted helper Cindy (who is still with me) say: “We can not leave all this here! The animals…” She was always caring about the critters who could hurt themselves. And really, looking at this pile, it would be too much even for us to pick up. My common sense kicked in again as I looked at the immensity of what I saw: garden equipment, cushions, buckets, clothes, boxes, pictures, frames, pots, cutlery, spices, toiletries, everything BUT the kitchen sink!

Strewn near the weeds was a soaked padded envelope with an address faintly visible. Did this belong to the perpetrator that dumped his household here? According to this information, he lived 6 hours away. Why dump it here? Being the daughter of a former detective, I went to the police, not expecting much. Having found a similar mess before which included a report card with a name and address amongst the bags of trash, I was told by the police officer: “Have you seen the guy dumping it?” – NO! “Then we can not lay charges… It could have been brought here by somebody else or a bear.” Really, 15km from town?

Littering and dumping is a chargeable offence, so I had to report this case. It was just too immense. Because of the Corona Virus everything had to be done by phone, outside the station, 20 questions had to be answered, and finally I was told an officer would get in touch with me since I had the description, address, and location.

Half an hour later, I gave the information to an officer and another half an hour from that, I got a call from the same officer. Here comes the twisted end to this story. The person on the envelope, who lives 500km away, was glad to hear from the police! His camper or trailer (I forget which) was stolen and the thief must have dumped the contents! He agreed to come and pick up what is left, especially the mementos, wet, soaked, or damaged.

So things don’t always look as they seem. I had intended to write an accusing article or a Garbologist Report to the “Dumper” but decided to include this good-ending story in my third booklet: My Life In The Shadow of The Goose.

Karin Grundt
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