Gumballs. Oh my goodness. What could be more fun for this week’s Mondays with Morie than gumballs.

Those little suckers start dropping around January and continue to drop for the next three months. It gets so bad that you can’t walk in my front yard for fear that you are going to turn your ankle when you step on one the wrong way.

I’ve lived in my house for over 30 years and in the front yard, we have a large Sweetgum tree. I imagine it was planted there when the house was built. Not only did the builders plant a tree that takes a lot of work, but they also planted it less than 10′ from the sewer lines. I, along with a lot of my neighbors, have had to replace some of the sewer lines because the tree roots grow into the lines. And that’s only one problem with this tree.

But since I’ve dealt with this for so long, it’s just a normal annual thing. Except for this year. Our city provides yard waste pickup for an additional fee but has ceased yard waste pick up at least until the end of April due to increased trash amounts from everyone who is staying (I want to say ‘stuck’ but that wouldn’t be politically correct) home. It generally takes between nine and twelve bags or cans of gumballs before we get the seasonal drop cleaned up. You rake up one batch, dispose of those and a week or two later, you do it again. That hadn’t been a problem…before now.

Okay, I thought. My next option would be the Earth Centre where I worked for three years. It’s in the neighboring city and when I worked there, I got the perk of being able to dump yard waste for free.  Although I knew I would have to pay for it this year, it was worth it to get the bags of gumballs out of the garage. I checked their website to see if they were open and there was nothing noted to say they weren’t. So, last Saturday my husband and I drove out to Earth Centre, only to find they were open only to city residents.

What now? I went online and found that in another neighboring city, they did provide yard waste dumping and they were open! And, they were cheaper than the other place, not that it mattered. What fun for our Monday with Morie excursion! I have to say, although it isn’t quite as nice as where I worked, the employees who met us at the gate were very friendly and helpful. It took no time to empty our bags and cans and we were on our way again.

My list of places I want to visit on our Mondays with Morie excursions keeps growing, but I don’t expect to be able to visit any of the places for at least another month, so my husband and I have to get creative to spend some designated time together. What matters most is that we are taking the time to be together, just in the moment, not just two people existing together.

This photo has nothing to do with gumballs, it is just a sunset view from the scale house at Earth Centre/Recycle City.