Musings on composting, recycling and vacations

A few weeks ago our family embarked on a big vacation. It involved years of planning, a family reunion, a couple of important birthdays, Disney World, air travel and a whole lot of other things that are out of the ordinary. My mom's side of the family has done a tremendous job of organizing family reunions around important events every couple of years. I really appreciate them, because I am often sad that we live so far away from one another. The last reunion, three years ago, celebrated my grandfather's 90th birthday. After he blew out the candles on his cake, my grandma (who is not known for subtlety) mentioned that we should save the candles (a big "9" and "0") for the next person who was turning 90. So we did. She turned 90 on July 24 (which also happened to be the day my youngest turned 4). So this family reunion was held in Orlando, Florida -- the kiddie Vegas of the humid Sunshine State. Lots o' way to spend money and entertain kids. And not too far from where my grandparents live (Ft. Myers, FL). Sadly, it was a year of loss. My grandfather, Robert N. Bush, died this spring about a week and a half after his 93rd birthday in June. He lived a long and blessed life, and was ready to go (these are his own words). Of course, any death is hard to take, and we mourn his loss -- this patriarch of our family. A man who grew up on a farm in Indiana, and lived an American dream of working abroad, fighting in World Wars (Battle of the Bulge), and raising a family whose extended members gathered in Orlando this summer to raise a glass in his name, and celebrate the long life of his wife, Charlotte, my grandma (and my kids' great-grandma).

As much as I'd like to continue writing the obituary that was never published (at his request), I won't. I want to talk about life on vacation. Don't get me wrong. We had a wonderful time. The kids did great on the airplane rides despite crazy flights (a red-eye to Florida and a 7am return flight a week later). We soldiered  through Disney World like commandos -- fast-passing our way though Magic Kingdom lands, creating vacation memories, lining the pockets of Disney/Pixar shareholders with some of our hard-earned vacation dollars. Yet, one thing really stood out from this trip: life on vacation, in this far-away place, was very out-of sync with our normal life. We rented a vacation home in a suburb of Orlando/Lake Buena Vista, and we did not recycle or compost ANYTHING. I think there may be an option for curbside recycling, but they did not try to explain it to tourist renters. Consequently, there was TWICE a week garbage pickup. BIG garbage cans. Most of us who were at this family reunion hailed from the west, and recycle regularly. This was really hard to take a break from. My husband kept threatening to bury some avocado pits in the golf course out back, but never did thanks to the blistering heat and humidity.

Again, let me reassert -- we had a wonderful time on vacation. But I was never so glad to get home to Portland. Where we can recycle more than we throw away. And it's oh-so-easy to compost.