July cleanup

So I cleaned up today -- it seemed pretty bad.  I filled two bags with trash, and I also cut back some re-sprouting Russian olives I cut last year and cut a few new ones as well.  I also identified a single tall tamarisk/salt cedar plant near the road, alone in a patch of dirt that is sometimes wet -- the perfect habitat for these things.  I cut it down, too.  I only wish I had some transline... or some telar... or some rodeo... or garlon would do.  It's pretty sad that you have to poison the stumps in order to really kill them off.  Otherwise, the tamarisks and Russian olives just keep coming back.  Still, I think cutting what I can is better than nothing.  Also, I can't believe I just said I wish I were doing chemical application... after trudging through miles of mostly dried creek bed last week in big, uncomfortable rubber boots, plastic pants, long sleeves, and rubber gloves -- in 95 degree heat, no less -- I'm not a big fan of herbicides.  But I have to admit their necessity in this age of rampant invasive species introduced all over the place from more vectors than I care to think about.  It was a nice day, not as cool as I hoped, but not too hot to work.  There were a lot of beer bottles and such, probably left over from revelry around the 4th.  It was mostly depressing in that way, except for one woman walking her dog who thanked me for picking up and said she often thinks of doing the same.  I think that, given the number of people who walk there, if everyone would just pick up one piece of trash during their walks, the field would be scoured clean in no time.