Thank you Minneapolis Park and Rec

I just have to say a big thank you to Minneapolis Park and Rec.  Sunday morning I was working on my "adopt a river" mile and noticed this new trash barrel.  I was going to take a photo, but there was a homeless man sleeping on the bench so I had to come back after he had left it.  This is the bench that I wrote about in my blog last December the 15th.  This is the bench with the nice overlook of the river at the mouth of Bassett Creek. It's also a good spot to hide and have a drink or two and a nap and it's also the place where a lot of folks pitch their trash down the hill.   When I first started picking up trash last spring, I came across a couple of guys on this bench and my first thought was I just better get out of there.  One of the guys turned around and looked at me.  A native american guy, he was definitely drinking, but when I looked at his eyes I thought this man is really ill.  Unexpectedly, he just said "thank you so much for cleaning up".  Recently I met a guy here who started up a conversation with me. He thanked me for picking up trash and said "Don't think that what you are doing goes unnoticed".  And then he asked me if I knew why people leave their trash here.  I knew what he thought was the answer and so I said "yes, it's because there is no trash barrel here".  He agreed.  He also told me that people like to drink here because they want to hide from the police and not be hassled.  I noticed he had his backpack chained and locked to his waist.  I wondered if he was homeless.  He said many of the homeless guys are chronic alcoholics and are just looking for a place to hide away from people who might take advantage of them.  This path isn't as isolated as that guy thinks.  I see all sorts of people here, dog walkers, grandma with the grand kids, runners, and park and rec police patrolling on bikes. The barrel will help I think.  It was half full of trash already when I walked by the second time that morning.  So thank you Park and Rec.