The Blue Tarp

It was a blue poly tarp, which are rather ubiquitous around homes and farms. I found one that had blown in our yard several years ago, and while not in the best of shape it was useable depending on the task. I repurposed the tarp to use doing yard work. Tarps come in handy to haul leaves to mulch flower beds or the vegetable garden.

The tarp is also used to haul brush. The village picked up brush twice a year--spring and fall, but I just found out they have a summer pickup date, late July for me. They have a drop-off site that is open much of the year. I found out about the summer pickup a few days after I made the haul. To haul bush to the drop-off site, the brush is loaded on the  tarp and then the tarp is tied up to minimize the brush, and its related detritus from messing up the back of the Jeep. That way it minimizes cleanup of the vehicle. 

The blue poly tarp that I had repurposed had seen better days. There were many rips, and most of the grommets had pulled off, with only a few remaining to use to help tie up the brush. Even the heavy string at the edge of the tarp, encased in blue poly of the tap, was out and in fact I used that to help tie up the tarp. When loading brush last week, my wife commented once again that we need to use another tarp. I think she told me that last year hauling leaves, but I wanted to get more use out of it. We tied the brush, and due to the condition of the tarp, we used bungee cords around the brush tarp taco to hold it together. 

We lifted it into the Jeep and then I headed to the drop-off site. I pulled out the brush taco and unwrapped and untied it then lifted it up onto the pile as best as I was able. Brush can be difficult, especially that brush that has thorns--like some of our land shrubs. Hence the tarp can get beat up pretty bad and quick as the thorns or sharp points on the brush grab the poly and the poly tends to rip. 

These ubiquitous tarps are supposed to be waterproof, but one we found out on our last camping trip that the one we bought to cover our chuck box last year, to replace one that lasted almost 30 years, leaked, due to discovering water on the top of the chuck box. I now have to decide if that is the tarp to be repurposed for lawn work, or the one covering my kayaks, which is starting to rip at the edges. They do not make poly tarps like they used to. 

But, the funniest thing of the whole story of my trip to the drop-off site is at the end. I pull into the garage and am getting out of the car, and my wife suddenly appears from the house. She moved faster than a squirrel, who got yelled at to get off a bird feeder.  As I opened the tailgate, I knew exactly whey she was there so fast--to make sure I threw the tarp out. If I had couple minutes before she appeared I would have rolled up the tarp and put on the top of the shelving unit in the garage, which she cannot reach. She knew this and spurted out the door and down the two steps faster than ever before. I knew that she would be there to supervise the tarp being thrown out. 

One tarp down, I now am required to find a different tarp to repurpose for lawn and garden use. Tarps come in handy for many things, as shown by that blue poly tarp which is now buried in the Dane County Landfill a few miles from our home.