2020-03-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

READER’S DIGEST

Tales of

Trash and

Treasure

What people discard through the years

tells a compelling story of their lives

MY STORY

M

y family and I have

lived happily in the

same pleasant, leafy

suburb for over 40 years.

It is the sort of place that doesn’t

get much passing traffic, and is

frequented by only the people who

live here, or who are visiting. It has

withstood the changes that come

with a growing population, such as

apartment blocks, parking problems

and the like.

People have moved out and moved

in as people do but there is one

remaining cherished memory of

the neighbourhood and its history

that keeps coming back to me, twice

yearly in fact – the Council Clean Up.

This sort of trash is a ‘recollection’

ofthings,really.

BY Kerry Podlogar

You have what I call ‘the

perennials’. The sagg y mattresses,

the worn-out or outdated shaggy

carpet, the blown-up microwave,

the shredded (faux) leather lounges,

a whole picnic ground worth of

barbecues of all types and, of

course, a multitude of unwanted

g ym equipment that seemed like

a good idea at the time. I actually

have a good reason why I threw out

my exercise bike. My husband said

every time I passed it, I broke out

into a sweat. So, job done. I am sure

we’ve all discarded unwanted stuff

at some time. A suburban rite of the

passage of rubbish, perhaps.

Council Clean Up was always the

time when I was made painfully

aware of the fact that children have

12 march 2020