Last week the city of Luverne finished up another round of the citywide junk pickup.
A tip of the hat goes to the crew that picked up our junk. They swooped into my neighborhood, wearing their neon green vests, with a garbage truck, a Payloader, a couple of John Deere side-by-sides and a dump truck or two, and with the speed and precision of a NASCAR pit crew, they were in and out of the hood in no time.
As is the Peterson yearly tradition – as it probably is for many of you – we drive around prior to the city picking up the junk to check out what people are throwing away.
The usual items such as mattresses, broken toys, a toilet or two – maybe more – and one avocado-colored bathtub cut in half were waiting for pickup along the boulevards. Windows, doors and more carpet than in past years got the “heave ho” this year.
Furniture seemed to top the list of most popular items to get shoved to the curb. Recliners and overstuffed fabric chairs with thick cushions were hauled out in what looked like record numbers, only to be blown down the street one day and back the other way the next day due to our windy weekend.
The junk pickup is often underappreciated and often abused. Yet year after year it’s one of the perks of living in Luverne we all can take advantage of, whether you’re throwing out junk or just driving around looking at other people’s junk.
It’s an annual tradition that we can all be thankful for.