Rewards

When last we saw our idiotic stalwart heroine, she was caught in a raging blizzard little snowfall while picking up litter in the Mile 50 area of the Seward Highway.

Those white things are snow flakes, just before it got a lot worse.

The large flakes buried dusted Gullible and obscured the litter she was trying to capture. 

The next day, Gullible returned to the scene of the snowstorm to continue her singular purpose.  What a difference a day makes.  The photo below was taken close to where the above photo was shot.

Same spot, different weather.

When she arrived at the point where she'd finished the day before, she glanced down at a steep slope and observed what had not been there the day before:

Dandelions.

Lupine ready to bloom.

So, the question is, did bloom because their yard was clean of litter, or what?

Some people wonder why I continue to spend so much time and money (for gas) and most of the summer doing this, covering fifty miles or more, going back over sections again and again.  The flowers above are part of the reason.

I can see what I've accomplished, and that's a big thing with me.   Once a woman turned around, came back to where I was working, and insisted on giving me $20 for gas money.  It came on a day when I'd computed my gas costs so far that summer as nearing $500.

Another is that I really hate litter and there's a great reward in seeing the landscape when it's free of litter.  I'm outdoors in beautiful country and the exercise is good for me.  While I get filthy with dust and mud and some nasty substances, the rewards are many.

I find useful things, like this nifty little gaff hook and a rubber strap, two items I just happened to have in the truck still.  I have the world's largest collection of found rubber straps, I'm sure, and I'm getting very particular about which ones I save. I also have a nice collection of golf balls. 

And there there's the odd reward:

No, I didn't find it in a ditch.  A friend stopped on his way home from Anchorage and gave it to me.  It couldn't have come at a better time.

Yes, Virginia, you can have your apple strudel and eat it, too.