Monday, April 30, 2018

Rivers and Riches

            This past Saturday I had the opportunity to do my first L.A. River cleanup and got to fully understand the saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure". As I entered the dirt road to find parking for the event I saw a huge line of volunteers of all ages eager to see change in the environment. The sun may have been weighing heavy on us all, but that didn't break anyone's spirit. The motivation to clean one of the staples of our beloved city was palpable in the air through the atmosphere created by volunteers. It was a very productive group of people who had bags filled to brim with including a little girl who was barely able to peak over her bag standing up. Aside from the devotion to the project, I could sense that it felt like a community project through little things such as strangers chatting as they were working, parents guiding their children through the rocks, and even a live musical performance in the heart of the river which was my favorite part. I felt as if I was part of this beautifully established community of nature protectors with my contribution of trash. The trash I found for the most part was quite average, but then I found this piece of concrete that has a checkered pattern on it which had me confused and intrigued so I took it home. Now, originally I meant it to be a part of my cool trash, but it didn't make the cut for our class project and I got to take it home and ever since then I have been wondering what the deal was behind this piece of trash. Everything there had a story and a worth that can be seen by the collector. There are so many great ways that a simple piece of trash can be something beautiful on display for all to see- as exemplified through our class art project. The experience overall was pretty fun and although I didn't see the conventional roaring rapids of a river I was still able to see an overflowing amount of kindness and consideration for what we know as the L.A. River.

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