STREET SWEEPERS...........

It's after 11:30 and finally almost dark. The western sky is still light but it's deep dusk...enough to finally be dark in my condo.

I am up 2 hours past my bedtime. To be fair there are a number of reasons, including a phone call to my son to assure myself that, despite last night's dream, I don't have to worry about day care and another pair of jeans for school. He assured me he is all grown up and doesn't need day care and has enough jeans and isn't starting school for another month-what a relief!

The main target for my insomniac frustration-or maybe desperation-is my nemesis, the street sweeper. While I appreciate Anchorage's commitment to a beautiful city, I am at a loss about the need to obsessively groom the streets. At first I thought it was to wash off the salt, or whatever they use on the ice (actually, I don't really remember them using anything). But, it continues on and on and on. I don't know how often they wash my street but it's way to often for my sleep patterns....it seems like a couple of times a week! For sure any winter related sludge is long gone!

Now, please feel free to weigh in on this conversation, but I don't really remember the streets in Texas being embarrassingly dirty and I don't remember seeing any washing and sweeping going on. I'll admit I may have been asleep while it was happening since they seem to wash these things while people are suppose to be asleep (at least if you listen to all of the pharmaceutical ads about the need for 7-8 hours of sleep a night). In fact, I was driving on these same streets today and they did not look like they needed a sweep and mop job!

In fact, at risk of offending any Alaskans that might stumble onto this posting, all of these efforts and money could be better spent cleaning up the incredible amount of trash on the streets, in the ditches, along side the highways. I drove to Palmer and back this weekend and was horrified and astounded by the trash on the side of the roads-I can't even describe it....it was just solid trash all down the road. Imagine blue bonnets and primrose flowers along the Texas highways and replace that image with trash and white plastic grocery bags and you've got a handle on the extent of the problem.

Actually, maybe I've just made a point. Maybe we don't sweep and wash our streets in Trent because it would be a crime to waste that much water washing a street for crying out loud! Not to mention the gasoline needed to fuel these huge noise makers.

Now you come to the reason for my hostility. The things sound like a jet sitting on a tarmac with the engine running waiting to take off. At times the noise fades a little and then it sounds like the jet is coming into my condo-depending on where the machine is as it moves up and down the street! And with no air conditioning the street noise is constant anyway (maybe that's another reason I never heard these things in Texas, we have air conditioning!)

Oh, well.....I still love Alaska but I think they need to get real with the street washing already! Pack those water and gas guzzlers up and move the crews out to pick up the tons of trash laying around town and along the highways. THAT would actually make a difference!

Ahhhh...the sound of cars speeding by and sirens blaring. Silence to my ears-the street sweeper has gone to clean up some other unacceptable dirty street! Time to go to sleep-this will be a novelty, going to bed when it's dark outside. In fact, it seems weird for it to be dark in my apartment-I think this is the first time I've been in the dark for at least a couple of weeks!

Night, Night!