Monday, August 18, 2008

Freeway Pumpkins 08-18-08

I started this daily Blog one year ago today.
Fifty years ago I commuted from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles in a carpool. It was an interesting experience, but I have only two ongoing memories - how much I disliked riding in a carpool and the lady with a lovely voice who gave the morning radio traffic report. I've always thought her voice was the perfect radio voice - low, calm, expressive - and she was very clever with words. One morning she said the traffic was backed up because Cal Trans was harvesting the freeway pumpkins. Huh? Nobody knew what she was talking about. It took me awhile to figure out that she was referring to the orange bags of trash collected by crews and piled along the roadway for pick up (eventually).
Cal Trans still uses orange bags most of the time.

And they still grow into great piles along California highways. Some districts are quicker to pick them up, but in others the trash can be seen all along the verges and the bags are faded before they are taken care of. Nobody on the pick up crews can say they didn't see them - orange glows!
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