Joann Merritt's Essays

Midnats’ Project Update
March, 2003

On April 5th fashionable MIDNATS will be wearing proper gloves while making a “stile-ish” entrance (via Don’s stile) into our adopted spot of ranch land for the ‘Don’t Mess with Texas Trash Off & Great American Cleanup.” Keep Midland Beautiful will furnish lunch at Hogan Park for all participants and also provide gloves and plastic bags, although some of us prefer to use empty feed sacks which are sturdier, easier to handle, available from the ranch and certainly more appropriate for pasture use, don’t you think?

The MIDNAT sign has now been installed beside the Laura & President George Bush sign on West I-20 and can be seen on the south service road. Don says since the Midland Naturalists name is publicly displayed, we will be guilty of false advertising if we don’t keep our “adopt-a-spot” clean. Q: How big is a spot? A: KMB says any size we want it to be. Other groups take care of the roadside proper; our area is across the fence on private land where permission is required before entering. The following true story illustrates this point.

A few weeks ago I was picking up litter using an old broom handle with a nail embedded in one end to snare trash when I noticed a man in a pickup driving slowly down the nearby ranch road and I assumed he was an oilfield worker. Wrong!! It was a Game Warden (probably from out of town according to Jim H) who used his cell phone to alert the ranch manager that some woman was digging up his cactus. I must have presented a very forbidding appearance wielding my bright red litter stick (Don’s creation) because the warden didn’t personally confront me, just phoned in his report and left the rest up to the rancher. We had a good laugh about the situation and naturally some jokes ensued: “Of course he didn’t approach you, there’s no glory or good publicity in confronting an old woman” and “Did he roll up his windows and lock his pickup doors when he saw you?” All joking aside, the game warden (who said he didn’t see Don) was justified in reporting me and if I had been there without permission it might not have been amusing.

One day last spring (before adoption papers were signed) Don and I picked up litter as swallows swarmed around us. Cassin’s Sparrows sang from the mesquite and Swainson’s Hawks gave their distinctive cry - or perhaps the cry was from a packrat one of the hawks had captured. As one looks down for trash early native flowers spring into view and on warm days butterflies flutter by so it’s not all work for a naturalist. A careless naturalist can even document the effects of a red ant sting. Have I made it sound like fun yet?

Working on this project leads to a better understanding of the challenges Keep Midland Beautiful faces and I’m proud the Midnats are participating in the Adopt-a-Spot program.