Tire Man made me get my hands dirty on my walk this morning. Wasn’t even supposed to see him today. Had another project that kept me from him yesterday and was to keep me from him again today. He was supposed to be doing his thing. I was supposed to be doing mine. Yet, somehow, he managed to influence yesterday, touch today, and change tomorrow. All without really trying.
Yesterday I helped a friend clean out her garage. A garage that could be the before shot in any number of shows on home improvement. We scheduled a dumpster, two days, and several helpers. Yesterday we dove in. I spent most of my time in the dumpster. By popular demand. Seemed the others, all Ladies, liked me out of the way. Inside the dumpster clearly qualified. It was as big as several Mack Trucks. One of those schedule-them-for-your-neighborhood affairs germane to suburbia in Spring. It was delivered in the morning and I dove right in. Literally and figuratively. The Ladies let me have my way.
They also humored my insistence that we take everything out of the garage and sort in as we do. Three piles. Trash. Yard Sale. Garage. Then they relegated me to dumpster duty with occasional usage as pack mule. Giddiup! While on dumpster duty, I methodically broke down each cardboard box.
Each of the Ladies formed their own opinion for my seemingly bizarre behavior. Obsessive compulsive. Slightly strange. Just another aspect of my routine bizarreness. The Jury was out due to lack of interest as long as my pack mule duties did not suffer. The true reason for the sudden fetish for flattened cardboard boxes was actually quite easy to trace. It was Tire Man’s fault.
Tire Man made me think of landfills, what we dump in them, and how much space it takes. Until I met him, my knowledge of landfills was decades old and quite out of date. Yes, my Little League team actually did play ball on a landfill. I know it was a landfill because I was relegated to the outfield based on my athletic prowess. The outfield that was less land and more fill. My warning track was the dump itself and the warning track moved each game. Little League was longer ago than I care to admit and my time in landfills drastically reduced when I stopped playing baseball in public. Again, by popular demand.
I did not miss landfills. Didn’t think about them much come to think of it. Then along came Tire Man. His example of responsible consumption had me thinking about every thing I threw away.
Cardboard boxes flattened felt right. I became King of the dumpster and ensured what was discarded was discarded properly. My logic may be questioned but my motive was pure. Less waste. A lot less. So the cardboard boxes were flattened and some items was saved from the almost trip to trash heap. All due to Tire Man.
I saved some PVC that would become part of the watering system for the tire garden that would be just like Tire Man’s. Also moved a pipe rack thingy that would be part of the Vertical Planters for plants like…….well, whatever Tire Man planted in his garden and was going to plant in the Vertical Planters at the Ogden Nature Center. He invented the wheel, garden wise, and I just planned to copy from the best. Yesterday might have kept him someplace else but he sure influenced me regardless.
Thanks to a productive labor force, motivated by the promise of good grub, we accomplished the two day project in one day. The dumpster was the picture of efficiency, the garage itself was far from home beautiful but miles away from you have got be kidding me, and I got today back to do some of those life required things. Even folks busy saving the world have to change their underwear and clean the windows every week or so. So, I moved into action on other things but began the day with my daily walk. Saw Tire Man working on, you guessed it, tires, in his front yard. Stopped by to share a story about his effect on me.
Not just the effect of the crushed boxes or salvaging things for my garden. Tire Man’s impact far exceeded that. He had me do things I resisted for decades. He inspired me to ask my neighbor for something for the first time in almost twenty years. Basically, the first time ever. Walked right over and asked from something.
If my neighbors ask me for any of my stuff, I happily loan it. Feels good to help. Like sharing it. Asking for their stuff? That is a bit of struggle for me. Just the way it is. Just the way I am. Tire Man changed that by his example. I walked right up to my neighbor and asked if I could have his compostables.
It was easy.
“Hey, do you compost?”
“No, I don’t.”
“I do. I need your grass clippings and stuff….”
Within the hour, he fed my silver trash can and I fed that to the Tire Composter that is the center piece of my back yard right now. It is the center piece by default since it is the only thing there right now but let it have its moment in the spotlight.
Tire Man enjoyed the story and kept right on cutting his tires. Tires he procured just this morning from a local dealer where he previously built a display of tire gardening along side a metal building in asphalt and full exposure. He picked it years ago since he needed to prove his tire planters in a hostile environment. This place qualified. On some days, it reached over 120 degrees thanks to all those factors. The tomatoes did just fine, the tire dealer began to make and sell some of the very same planters, and pushed Tire Man’s book when he remembered. He was happy to give Tire Man several gems of used tires. That was this morning. Tire Man already had the tires in his driveway and was turning them into planters. That is when he made me get my hands dirty. He needed help turning the biggest tire so I helped.
It did not take long. Soon, we were done with that tire, my hands were dirty in a good way, and we headed into the day to do what each of us must to be who we are. Tire Man then causally mentioned what he did yesterday while I was in the dumpster amusing the Ladies. Yesterday, just as he does everyday, Tire Man successfully played it forward.
(If you want to get to work and make a difference in your part of the world just like Tire Man does....get to tirecrafting.com and get to it)
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