dumpster birthday surprise!
“Love is like a good cake; you never know when it’s coming, but you’d better eat it when it does!” – C. Joybell
I was that little girl standing in line before the birthday girl/boy to make sure I’d get the biggest and best slice of cake. I call this condition “Birthday Cake Syndrome”: awaiting my piece of cake excitedly, to behold it as a sweet luscious opportunity, and to scarf it down joyously as if it was a last meal.
Dumpster diving sends me to that birthday cake place. It’s a reminder of the giddy little child I am when I do what I feel. It’s an opportunity to be in ecstatic love with every moment as a surprise.
Last night, Maggie (right) and I found a whole decorated birthday cake and cupcakes on top of the overflowing bin. It’s as if they were there for us to celebrate the dumpster fare of the evening. Man oh man, did we celebrate! We found organic corn and breadcrumbs for our hens, organic chips, a pound of flour, organic juices and cereals, oatmeal, along with all the fruits and veggies we could ever need.
When I moved to Texas from Tucson, almost every store I investigated had a compactor and there seemed to be few opportunities to exercise my food freeganism. That was until I moved to The Garden of Eden, where I got the low-down on dumpster alley, a row of Walmart and Kroger dumpsters open for our feasting celebration.
These days, Every moment feels special like a birthday cake surprise, especially when I dumpster dive.
I’d love love love to hear stories, comments, and questions about dumpster diving and freeganism!
(((♥)))
Emmanuela
Stay tuned in for a video and guest post about dumpster adventures!
Comments (3)
So, have you ever been “caught”? And if so, what did they say/do? I’m curious…I hate confrontation but this sounds soooo fun!
That’s funny you ask! This particular night someone came out of the Kroger while I was in between dumpsters. I had one foot on each dumpster ledge and a full box of food. I instantly jumped down with the box and behind the dumpster like some kind of wild ninja. Maggie fell into the dumpster and rolled out frantically saying, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO!??” I told her to make a run for it and I high-tailed it to the car. When I looked back the guy said, “You scared me!” Maggie explained that we needed the food for our garden and chickens and he said, “I got my bananas!” with a smile. We laughed hysterically and decided to play it cool next time. Later that night, the Walmart rent-a-cop pulled up behind my car flashing his lights. I just repeated “abort mission! abort mission!” and we got in the car without saying a word to the cop and laughed all the way home.
The store security can’t follow you out of the parking lot and usually the grocery store employees don’t mind dumpster divers. I’ve been told to leave dumpsters before because its considered private property, but I’ve never had a serious confrontation.
Abort mission! You are great. I want to dumpster dive with the two of you sometime. <3