The book looks at the history of how America viewed & handled its trash, from colonial days to the present. It traces how reuse went from necessity, to outdated custom, to counterculture, then back into vogue. She tracks how industrialization, sanitation, & consumer culture influenced what we consider trash & how we dispose of it. Some sections were interesting, but others dragged. A great read for trash nerds, but a bit dated, & may not appeal to a general audience.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/398445.Waste_and_Want

summer's red result;
hard work's slow, well-earned reward:
that first tomato

#haiku

Come to think of it, this is the first one I've heard all summer.

a rasping beacon
on a stifling summer night
his chirps unanswered

#haiku

Walked a trail in a large park. There are parts where I can almost forget I'm still in the city. Not sure who was more startled- me, or the heron that sprang up out of nowhere at one point while I looked at a stream.

city sanctuary
the heron rises, silent
startled by my steps

#haiku

garden inspector:
electric blue dragonfly
hovers in the heat

#haiku

unrelenting blaze
dwindling daylily buds
unopened, seared shut

#haiku

gladiolus streak
the ruffled skirt swirl of a
flamenco dancer

#haiku

unsettled wind chimes
the trees whispering rumors
of rain, of relief

#haiku

faint light, fading fast,
lonely beacons of summer:
mid-july fireflies

#haiku

reminder & reward,
the reason it's all worthwhile:
summer tomatoes

#haiku

lone gladiola
droops, regretting its choice to
bloom in a heatwave

#haiku

these picky eaters
bees snub the flower garden
to feast on lawn weeds

#haiku

oddly relaxing
to watch someone work so hard
bustling bumblebee

#haiku

I had no idea how big these things were until I saw one on a flatbed trailer at a state highway rest stop.

up close and still
a single wind turbine blade
scale, reimagined

#haiku

I've got several hen-and-chicks lining one edge of my parking pad. I've never see them bloom before...

the cars’ hazy plumes
trundling over the bridge
the boat's wide wake
cutting across the river
oblivious, endless flows

#tanka

Turkeys were native to NH, then hunted to extinction. After an initial failed attempt, they were successfully reintroduced in the 70s.

on a walk with dad
the turkeys, too, silently strut
unlikely neighbors

#haiku

https://www.wildlife.nh.gov/wildlife-and-habitat/species-occurring-nh/eastern-wild-turkey

highway median
a glimpse of former glory
sea of wildflowers

#haiku

the sun slowly rose
red-eyed like the lone weary
traveler

#haiku