Blog 5 - Stories told in trash

I have been wondering what the meaning is in trash. Or, as they say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Collecting and refurbishing "one man's trash" is a mainstay of income for the family in the film Off the Map. Trashed items that are mostly good can often be repaired and reused or sold to someone else for their use.

While walking my dogs on the desert in the mornings, we frequently come upon piles of discarded materials. The dogs follow the scent, and we follow them. When we find interesting items like commercial restaurant refrigerators, for example, I am curious as to the story behind the discards. New or nearly new toys in containers puzzle me. Who would discard such, and why?

Sometimes trash moves or goes away. The "zebra pelt" (actually a fleece zebra print throw) disappeared when a utility company buried cable where it had lain for two years. As a landmark of sorts, we turned north at Zebra Road. Now what do we call it? We gave Ristra Road its name for the discarded ristra that is long gone. (I suspect the city of Rio Rancho has other names for these rutted dirt roads.)

A nearly new sofa on 4 Rabbit Hill went up in flames only a few days after it was dumped. A partial cow hide and stuffed rabbit seemed to have been collected under a cedar in what looks like it could be a coyote bed. A car was burned and is in the process of being dismantled south of the Construction Zone.

What is the ethic of trash? Who discards? Who collects? Who contains the stories? Of late, I photograph.