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QAR
October 2009 
a delightful mixed up day.
Posted on Dec 18th, 2007
by 
Farland
Farland
My friend Sarah writes for the paper In Aspen. This week she is writing an article on Dumpster Diving for Christmas presents. She called me last week as a source person. We met today with a photographer to hit all the good dumpsters and the dump in Aspen. All the dumsters are by law enclosed in little buildings with bear proof doors. Some of them would make nice little houses. We found a beautiful oak drop leaf desk at the dump and a fireplace front antique brass. Both the desk and the fireplace front had claw feet. Trash that have animal feet find new homes? I found an enamal pot and some fancy soaps and leather pants. Sarah got some old tea cups with broken handles to hold art paint. Somewhere in the day we heard the fire trucks. Both Sarah and the photographer are scoop getters. They turned on the scanner and we followed the rescue vehicles. I recognized Dawn's husband as the deputy on the radio. An adult Tonka digger machine on it's way to a monsterhome new construction on Conundrum Creek had skidded off the steep slick driveway and plunged 200 feet into the creek upsidedown. The driver jumped free before it went over the edge. Yesterday the trees were telling me this story. That is why I didn't need to understand. I don't like people to get hurt but I like to see cars and big machines turned belly up.
Access: Public
Here it's illegal to take things out of the dump, which seems crazy-dumb to me.
I don't like development that takes away trees and habitats, and I really dislike the MacMansions, but I do like the machinery. I wish the machines would all decide to use their powers for good…
There towns around Aspen have anti Dump scavanging laws and discourage taking things from Dumpsters. Aspen has a special place at the dump for recoverable objects and they encourage repectful dumpster scavanging. One of the dump workers has furnished his whole house from the dump. There was a song the children (esp. Timon) listened to called “Kenny the Cat Driver.” Did you ever hear it? One can picture the machines as puppets and yes many are manipulated by destruction men. I gave Julia the desk we found for a first “her own” homework desk. She was almost in tears with happiness. I'll post a picture.
yes!!! I love it when mother nature wins! I love this photo. I love the story idea. I can't wait to see the newspaper. Thanks for coffee this morning and I am so glad you are an influence in the world. so, so glad.
Dumpster Diving can be refined into an art form around here. Most of my tables and lamps are from swan dives into the green abyss that is dumpster land.
In Truro, Mass., there are volunteers at the dump that sort out the usable from trash and the local populace can bring things as well to this ersatz swap shop that has been set up there. Every thing is free, take what you want, leave what you want.
I dislike machinery of any kind in “my” wilderness, and still have my membership card from the Monkey Wrench Gang. Hayduke Lives!
Those steel tracks on that back hoe are great for going forward and backward but you get them going sideways on frozen ground and they act the same as ice skates, lucky he got out alive.
neat finds from the dumpster. who throws that kind of stuff away? How did the trees tell you the story?
Those two slender aspens looking at the machine can you see them how they stand how they hold themselves and the curves of the one limb showing? That is part of the tree story. People throw so much away. It is not in the throwing away that is hard, it doesn't much matter where something is, a home , the dump it is the same thing and sometimes better set free to rust and decompose or find a new home.
Geo, I once had a bumper sticker that read “I'd Rather Be Monkey Wrenching” but the “Monkey Wrenching” part disintegrated so it read “I'd Rather Be”
Geo – who is Hayduke? I feel like I ought to know, but I don't.
I'd rather be….. as well. Hayduke was one of the characters of Ed Abbey's iconoclastic work, “The Monkey Wrench Gang” who was last seen driving a dozer over the cliff.
thank you for educating me. I never read it. should I ought to?
It would be a good one to read to Jordan I'll find you a copy and I drove right past the books last night, oh well….