The Only Cure for Litter Is You

Before the Pandemic –  in late 2019… I had finished the story for the third book in the three-frog series.  I was working on the illustrations with hopes of a Spring 2020 roll out of the book.  Then COVID hit and essentially everything went sideways.  

I’m sure your experiences were similar – not that you were necessarily trying to publish a children’s book, but I bet you had your own sideways happenings throughout 2020. 

As I write this blog entry, each State is in the red zone as far as COVID infection is concerned.  There have been millions of people infected with this horrible virus and over 313,000 COVID deaths.   So, life has not returned to normal and it will be a long while before it does! 

It’s hard for me to understand, but some people got all worked up about wearing a mask – not everyone – but enough to make it a “thing”.  Some people – not scientists – but some people (idiots), thought herd immunity was the way to go.  It wasn’t – it isn’t! 

To me it seems pretty simple… listen to the experts.  The experts (scientists and health professionals) encourage you to wear a mask, wash your hands, avoid crowds, to not eat in restaurants and not hang out in  bars.  Again – to me it seems simple – follow the expert advice and avoid the plague.

Here in Fremont, the City passed a mask mandate.  I was kind of surprised and happily relieved.  It used to be that I would go to a store and very few people would be wearing a mask.  But since the mandate went into effect, I have only witnessed one “Karen” without a mask. 

Soooo, I’m happy the City passed a mask mandate, I’m happy everybody, but that one “Karen”, has been compliant, I’m happy that people are taking this virus seriously and caring for their health and the health of their fellow citizens!  There really isn’t a cure for COVID but we can slow the spread – please continue to wear a mask.
 
Switching gears here – have you noticed all the masks littered around town.  Ya, mask litter!  I mean, I don’t get out a lot but when I do get out, I am amazed at the number of masks I see littered in parking lots.

 With more people wearing masks, more people are purposely or accidentally littering their masks.   Every – well maybe not every, but it sure seems like every parking lot, I parked in this past week, had littered masks – all over.    Seriously – all over!  I finally started taking pictures to document this littered mask parking lot phenomenon.

Like I said before, we may not have a cure for COVID but wearing a mask will protect you from the virus and it will protect other people from getting the virus.   Soooo, no cure for COVID, but we do have a cure for litter.  THE ONLY CURE FOR LITTER IS YOU!  Sorry – didn’t mean to yell, but I did want to get your attention. 

Each of us is responsible for our own health and safety.  We are also responsible for not endangering  others.  Wear a mask until the experts say it’s safe to go without!  Take extra precautions to not litter your mask.  Don’t take your mask off in the parking lot – you might accidentally drop it on the pavement.  Wait to take your mask off until you get in the car.  Never purposely drop your disposable mask on the ground – that’s littering and it’s nasty – find a trash can!  If you are picking up litter, be sure to wear protective gloves and for sure, don't litter the gloves.   OK – rant over!

So anyway – back to the third book.  It is coming out in January, 2021.  And information will be posted in a few days, on how you may pre-order the book.  So – Hooray! 

I am so proud of my granddaughter for taking personal responsibility in wearing her mask to school every day and helping to keep her old Oma healthy and virus free.  It seemed appropriate to dedicate the third book – completed during a world-wide pandemic, to all the students who have so faithfully worn their masks to school.  The three little frogs are pictured in the dedication, wearing their masks… they look so adorable!

But don’t let their cuteness fool you – those three little frogs dislike litter almost as much as I do.  I have it on good authority that creating public awareness and reducing mask litter is going to be a “thing” for them in 2021.  In addition to the third book, Freddy, Green and Hops are coming out with new litter reduction posters, book bag designs, t-shirts and education materials.  (And yes, those three frogs speak to me and that's not just a quarantine thing.)

I don’t want to jinx anything, so let’s just say the books, bags, t-shirts, posters and other stuff will be available soonish!  Watch this space for updates.