We're Back!

The aforementioned out-of-state plans didn't exactly work out, so we loaded up the van and came back to the homestead.

Brazosport o' Brazosport. Ye haven't changed all that much. Thus, I have returned to the keyboard. According to the counter, a handful of people have still been clicking on this site. It's a mystery.

Still, it's good to be back at the keyboard and nestled within Brazosport's bountiful bosom.

The most disconcerting change in the B'port way of life that immediately became apparent was the shortage of blue plastic bags at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lake Jackson. These are invaluable because of their color. Residents of Lake Jackson are instructed to put all recyclables in blue plastic bags, which are then picked up once-a-week by the recycling truck.

This we have done for years, using the Wal-Mart bags, which are cheerfully emblazoned with the yellow "Smiley Face." It's as much a part of the Brazosport way of life as keeping tabs on the latest benzene releases from the local plants.

But the L.J. Wal-Mart not long ago began using plastic bags that were gray. Gray with no smiley faces.

This went on for weeks, forcing environmentally-minded Lake Jacksonians to pay money for blue trash bags. The citizenry, in our opinion, should NOT be required to pay money for blue bags in order to do our small part to save the world. The City of LJ already charges a recycling fee!

Then, without warning, Wal-Mart began using the blue sacks again.

A friendly Wal-Mart checker explained what happened: They ran out of the blue ones and were under orders not to begin using them again until the store's supply of gray ones was gone.

It feels damn good to have the free blue bags back.

No more guilt over backsliding on the recycling regimen, no more wasted money on PURCHASED blue bags, a neat tidy row of bulging blue bags filled with plastic bottles, plastic milk jugs, soup cans and junk mail sitting out on the curb every Thursday morning.

All is right again. Well, not really, but it's a start.