Thursday Thirteen No. 43: There Is No Garbage

I think it's true that when the student is ready the teacher arrives. One of the best teachers to arrive on my scene an almost daily basis is Ted the Recycling Guy. From a distance early this morning, I watched him hoke recycling bins, give dog biscuits to even the friendly dogs, and talk to anyone who passed by. On his way down the hill, he slowed down long enough to ask me, "How are ya, sweetheart," and he waited for my answer. This one's for Ted.

1. Ted introduced himself to me a few springs ago when I was making my way up our hill early one bright morning. He had stopped his truck in the middle of the road, hopped down, and said, "Sweetheart, you gotta smile. You just gotta smile. Look in the mirror and smile. Whatever it is, it'll get better." Ted stopped my sleepwalking.

2. Shortly thereafter, he stopped the truck and hopped down to hand me some discarded flower pots. Easter had just passed. "Plant these in your garden, kid, and next year you'll have flowers. That's what my wife does." So I did; and I did have flowers.

3. For a few weeks afterward, I'd find discarded plastic flower pots along the way; Ted had left them there for me to collect and plant at home. He gave me a garden full of hyacinths, tulips, hydrangea, and mums. The perennials are still going.

4. Once he jumped out with a purple mum in full bloom. "I was hoping I'd see you; I've been taking care of this one just for you."

5. Another time, he stopped me with a gigantic petunia in a hanging basket. "Give it water; it'll be fine. That's what my wife does." I carried it for a mile and then watered it; it was fine.

6. Other days, he'd stop and talk about his dogs or to tell me about his finds along other routes: brand new dog beds, glass utility shelving, tables and lamps,

7. "And one of the ugliest things I ever saw--you wouldn't believe it--I had to take it home to show my wife. It was a big ceramic hand with the fingers all like that royal wave. 'What the hell you want me to do with that?' she says. 'I don't know, but it was so damned ugly I had to show you.' I said; we had a laugh, and then I threw it out--and then I found out it cost $75. Beauty parlors use them to show off what they can paint on your nails."

8. Ted picked up a stray dog that followed him around, too. Once he asked me to take one, and I wish I had.

9. There is something for everyone on Ted's route it seems--even for Ted. Once, a man was cleaning out his deceased father's liquor cabinet. The son was not a drinker, and he offered the liquor to Ted. "All good stuff--scotch whiskey, gin, them fancy liqueurs, you name it. All good stuff. 'You gonna be OK with that in the front?' the guy asks me. "I'm OK with all this in the front--you bet," Ted replied.

10. There are smaller gifts, too. Like the promotional Post-it pads printed with the name of some medicine or other on the top. Ted leaned out the window last fall to pass these along to me. They work just fine.

11. Last year Ted read The Secret, and he stopped one day to tell me about it: "That book says the universe has everything we need, and all we have to do is ask for what we need. I can tell you that's true. I see it every day on my job. People need stuff, and I find it."

12. I read The Secret because Ted recommended it. Though I didn't much like it, I was quite taken with the idea that our world is alive, and as a living being has its survival as its paramount concern. Finding your place in the world means stepping into time with the give and take of this mystery and opening your arms to everything.

13. I have learned from Ted the Giver of Gifts that there really is no garbage in this world. It's all good and beautiful and rich. Just have to look up!

Thursday Thirteen