Trash

I took a wetlands class in graduate school where we learned how to delineate wetlands - basically, what characteristics does a site need to include to be classified a wetland. In addition to wetland soils, vegetation, and hydrology, my professor and TA added: trash. Wetlands are full of trash - very sad, but it does seem to often be the case, and our little backyard riparian zone was no different. We hauled quite a collection of balls, spent fireworks, a swingset, even a lawnmower out of the ravine. Well, we know the weeds will keep growing back, but at least the trash won't!