growing up green

I can hear Dad’s voice every time

I discard something,
“IT’S PERFECTLY GOOD!”

We were raised living a life of recycling,

long before the ecology-conservation-green

idea was popular. Mom even

collected the white plastic strings that

were tied around the L.A. Times each

morning, & carefully crocheted cute purses.I remember my Grandma, Aunties, & Mom

braiding all their old nylon stockings,

& then stitching them together into

comfortable circular rugs. I still can’t

throw away any old tees that can be

cut into useful rags. C.F. walks her daughter

to & from school, even in the rain.

She frequently has neighbors remarking

about it; as if walking is the most unusual

form of transportation ever invented.

When Mom passed away, the one piece

of memory C.F. asked for, was to keep

her ‘Bachan’s jars, which were full of

assorted old buttons. Dad’s old work shop

is lined in old coffee cans & mason jars,

packed with old screws, washers,

and other odds & ends. We don’t dare

throw any of them away…

you’ll have a need for it,

as soon as it goes into the trash.

When we were young, an old orange tree

fell in the yard. Dad swiftly cut up the branches,

& built a magnificent tree house for us.

Even the ladder was made of sturdy limbs.

We spent hours with our friends

up in that tree house. I wish I had pictures

of that secret hideaway. To this day, my Dad’s

big compost pod stands weathered & splintered

in the back yard. My Brother lives in the

old Family Home now, & faithfully dumps

his organic scraps into the compost heap.

He also scatters his used coffee grounds

around the garden. Nothing seems to leave us

until it self destructs on its own.

So, for our Family, Green is just another name

for the way we’ve always lived.

Now the 4G ~ our 4th Generation of being Green.

b.q.