Dumping and Politics ~ Bedfellows of a Sort

On Sunday, Governor Padilla, on island for a very fancy wedding (create jobs! have a huge wedding on Culebra!) also made an appearance at the basketball courts to give an update on the status of his vision for Culebra; you can read about that here. There was a good turn out for a Sunday morning, not only did everything start on time, I think it started early, which made us slightly late but not by much.



One of the fun things about these events is getting to see people I don't see every day. It's a hug fest party!

The National Guard will be playing a big part in making Culebra pioneros ambientales - environmental pioneers

Always, music

Not a great photo but the older woman is one of my heroes.

Besos!

Yesterday I went with a friend to the dump, the dump that will be gone if all the recycling plans come to fruition, the dump that has one of the best views on Culebra - one of a hundred best views (a weird island thing, a lot of islands that still have dumps have them in the most gorgeous places), the dump that, at the bottom, in the water, has one of the most beautiful coral gardens ever seen. That dump. Drop stuff off. Get something you need if it isn't buried yet. The Dump. 

I don't think they are waiting for the plane.

Ferry incoming. A cattle egret keeps watch.

It's a great big beautiful world.

A few lifetimes ago, when I lived in Miami, I discovered how much I liked dumps. Growing up on a barrier island on the east coast of Florida I'd never seen a dump and truthfully, never thought about dumps existing. I knew not to litter. I knew about ocean dumping. But an actual dump didn't really come into my mind until I was a lot older. Then it was this cool place where people would take things and leave treasures, off to the side. I've gotten Oriental rugs, antique oil lamps, cleverly made baskets, all set to the side, all from the dump. It was recycling before there was ever talk of recycling. So I always had an affection for them. Until Hurricane Andrew, an event I covered for the National Guard. One of my side trips took me to the dump and a talk with the man heading up the disposal of...destruction. He told me that there was at least 25 years worth of 'trash' to deal with from that one day of hell and the problem of how to deal with it would take years to solve. Everything about waste disposal got very real, right then, right there. I woke up, with those mountains of the detritus of humanity in front of me.

Down down down between the hills. Welcome to Culebra! One day, these homes will only be looking at green hills themselves, rather than a wasteland backed up by the unmelodic clanging and banging music of bulldozers.

And so begins another day in Paradox. 

The blinding view from my window as I type this

Have a tell me the truth Tuesday. Do something tidily.