I found this old Coke can half buried in the leaf mulch, beneath the oak and sycamore canopy in a deep canyon cut by a coastal stream in the mountains above Santa Barbara. On the side it reads, “New! All -Aluminum Can.”

One day, a half century ago, some careless slob chucked his empty can into the brush. I usually cringe, before getting pissed off, when I see litter in the woods so it is interesting to me how I was actually happy to find this piece. I guess, in some ways, certain pieces of garbage gain in value and at some point cease to be trash. What was tossed out fifty years ago is a collector’s item today auctioned off on eBay.