For me and Sherry, the highlight of every weekend is loading our trailer with dead brush and driving out to the Carson City Landfill.
We drive toward the weigh scale behind all these mammoth trucks and tractors doing the big-time jobs around Carson City. Men and women full of grit and wisdom in the ways of heavy-duty land and waste management. They smile and wave as our Chevy Suburban tugs along.
I’ve never got the hang of backing up our little trailer to just the right spot to make our dump. Yet, there’s a power that comes over me knowing I’m one of this special gang. Often, another driver will appear in my rearview mirror and signal me in. What a treat for a guy who has no calluses on either hand.
Now in the final years of my professional life as a writer, sales guy and editor, I gain much pleasure in recognizing how self-fulfilling and vital other professions are to make a city, a state and a country move forward. I’m happy I made the choices I did, but I think I could have been thrilled as a regular at the Carson City Landfill.