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04/21/2005: "A tale of two barrels"

I’m worried that Giuliani was right with his broken window theory. There is a half-barrel flower planter in front of our house that has no flowers in it that has become a garbage dump. I’ve watched as one piece of cardboard has grown to this awful mess:




I think the wine bottle was the most recent addition. Some of the local drunks were sitting on our brick lawn yesterday, which is fine, as long as they don’t litter, which they did. It was a hot day and our brick lawn is a nice place to watch the people go by, or pass out, as one of them did.

Twenty feet away the neighbour’s barrel has flowers, but no trash.



I thought about putting a “Hey Pigs, this isn’t a trash can” sign on our barrel, but that might just attract more junk. So later this week I’m going to go down to nursery at Dupont and Davenport and buy some flowers and maybe a bag of the expensive dirt and make it nice – and maybe that will keep the garbage away. I also feel like ripping out random bricks and planting flowers in them, and seeing what happens.

Replies: 4 Comments

on Thursday, April 21st, melissa said

This posting makes me very sad because I live at Shawn's house too. I very much would like to help Shawn beautify the barrel but I am currently miles away. Where I am there is no garbage. Keep Bermuda beautiful, they say. And they do.

If you don't have time to do it before I get back, I promise to help when I do. You should also know that pink flowers grow best...

Thank you Shawn.

on Thursday, April 21st, Pascal said

Yeah that's a good plan. I used to work right next to that nursery when I was employed by a design shop that shared the building. I would look out one window and see all the new flowers and trees that they would get in and ship out. The other window looking South framed the freight trains that would run up and down the tracks that go along Dupont. We'd call out: "Graff exhibit!" and we'd all gather around the window to look at the spray-painted trains.

I got fired from that job for refusing to stop writing a column for this on-line design and marketing magazine. Laurel wrote it actually, I did the interviews, research, and outlined the pieces. That boss went on to fire three more of my co-workers and closed shop the following year.

Enough about that, get those flowers Shawn, and beautify your area. Guerilla gardening is the way to go.

on Friday, April 22nd, melissa said

Oh, I forgot to comment on the idea of ripping up random bricks to plant flowers...I love it so please wait for that part until I am home again.

Thank you.

on Wednesday, May 25th, Tanya said

Great idea on the flowers! Definitely I find with the litter it seems you have to pick it all up or more follows at an increasing pace (from people tossing it on my lawn) Random brick removal also sounds like a good plan, vegetation always have a softer feel to it than bricks.