Litter in Skaneateles

How good to be back to local trash. In Austin Park, sandwich wrappers from Subway, crushed cups and lids, stray plastic and paper, and a TOP FLITE XL 3000 number 3 golf ball, “Super Soft.”

On the walk to Slim Point, a dozen or so nondescript bits of paper and plastic, but one Twizzler wrapper, some litter with lineage, a child of Young & Smylie, founded in 1845; the company established the Y&S trademark in 1870 and is today a subsidiary of Hershey.

This morning at Slim Point, lots of paper scraps from food items and one New York Times bingo card, but the big score was a name tag from a Cottage Guest named Wesley Schools. I love names that are complete sentences; of course, my Skaneateles favorite is Peter Babbles, and in Auburn, Steve Stomps, but Wesley Schools, though lacking an object, pleases me as well.

On Oneita Bay Drive, one Marlboro Light 100s Methol pack with a small brochure on the dangers of smoking. On the walk to Slim Point, several scraps of paper and foil, a shattered plastic cup, and numerous plastic beach toys that I left for their rightful owners to reclaim, picking up where they left off. On the same walk, we startled a great blue heron that winged away over Lake George.

On the stroll in to work: one empty pack of Marlboro Lights, one empty Budweiser tall can, and one vintage item: a receipt from the Western Lights branch of M&T Bank for an installment loan payment of $219.29 made on January 19, 2007.

A turn around the Austin Park pedestrian trail last night yielded about a dozen bits of paper and plastic, ripped baggies, crushed cups, bottle labels, as if hoards of tiny day-campers had torn into their food, half-crazed with hunger, and one sheet of notebook paper on which someone had lettered, in blue ballpoint pen: “Vote For the for crazy hat! Jake Sherman.” I’m not sure if Jake was the author of the message, the candidate, or both, but I will look for a crazy hat on the campaign trail.

Well, not really, just the M&T Bank deposit slip for account ****2763, from 2:14 p.m. yesterday, with this nice note at the end: “Thanks for visiting us today. We are happy to assist you!” Of course they’re happy; you just gave them $2,622.73. I’d be happy to assist you, too. Sadly, fewer and fewer people are littering money; I’m pretty sure it’s the price of gas going up and housing sales going down, but I sure do miss those nickels and dimes.

Probably falling under the category of “Lost” rather than “Litter,” but found nonetheless: one pink pig, said to be a Good Luck Pig, designed and signed by Lorrie Veasey, founder of Our Name Is Mud. The pig was found in a Skaneateles HS parking lot (of which there are several to accommodate those of the students too frail or disoriented to walk to school) with a few small chips on foot, tail and ear, but with its essential good humor intact. “Litter in Skaneateles” will host the pig until its owner comes forward.

Not a new topping, but a paper plate and sheet of wax paper that carried pizza, cast aside in Austin Park and covered with ants. Also, a chocolate ice cream bar wrapper, a crushed Barq’s Root Beer can, a receipt from the Hilltop Restaurant, wrappers from Dubble Bubble and Starburst Chews, two pieces of cellophane and a white paper cup.

Nestled in beds of grass along Jordan and Onondaga Streets: two Starbucks Frappuccino bottles, waiting for a power mower to turn them into glassy blasts of shrapnel. In the Austin Park lot, one gold hoop earring that had been run over a few times. On the way to work: scraps of clear plastic, dirty baggies, and long cellophane tops off cigarette packs with their golden tear strips waving in the morning breeze. The big prize today: one empty Capri Sun Roarin’ Waters pack, of which the makers note, “Water has gone from borin’ to ROARIN’. Our fruit-flavored CAPRI SUN Roarin’ Waters beverage is water, the way kids want it—a sensible solution to help your kids meet their daily fluid consumption needs.” It is also rumored that Roarin Waters is the perfect accompaniment to FLOMAX.