As always, there are far more than three things that keep me happy every day, but today, in all the heat and humidity, I was really happy to see those hard working guys at the Atlantic Highlands Recycling Yard. Not only because they’re so helpful and pleasant all the time, but also because I learned a few things. The truck that comes to take the trailer of paper, boxes, magazines, etc. to the recycling yard always comes on a Monday morning. That means, if you’re bringing all your paper products for recycling on a Monday morning, by necessity you have to leave it all on ground and these terrific guys then clean it all up once the trailer and crusher is back. So, to by way of thinking, if you don’t have to bring your papers goods Monday morning, and can wait at least until the afternoon when you can deposit them in the crusher yourself, you’ll also be saving double duty on getting the stuff in to be crushed. I also learned, once I complained about the number of boxes because don’t we all shop on Amazon these days and everything is delivered in oversized boxes which then have to be crushed and discarded, that’s there is really an upside to that. Yes we can have our mail orders delivered, yes they come in boxes, but if we bring the boxes to the recycling yard, they get crushed, go to the receiver and eventually get made into more boxes for more of our Amazon orders. That means we’re saving trees, and that’s always a good thing!
Another thing making me happy is all the new shops coming into Atlantic Highlands. Who would have thought that in the wake of a pandemic that changed our lives completely around, new businesses would be cropping up. Love having three bakeries in town, think the new 7-Eleven looks sparkling clean and inviting, am fascinated by a Pickle Shop and can’t wait to see what it’s all about, happy the movie theater is going to be opening again, and so much more. At the same time, we still have the courtesy, helpfulness and downright friendliness of everyone at Jaspan’s Hardware where you can absolutely find everything you need, all our fantastic restaurants, Mike’s Deli, another place where there is so much friendliness you have to smile when you walk in, and feel better when you leave with your sandwich and coffee in hand, and of course the gas station on First Avenue where courtesy is the first order of the day. I love my Highlands, but Atlantic is certainly a wonderful place to live!
And the third thing making me happy today is seeing that OLPH/ St Agnes Church is having a huge raffle going on. No doubt all the churches have suffered financial losses during the pandemic, yet have to keep the AC pumping and meet every other expense. With folks coming back, things should be getting better, but a raffle is a winner for all, those who like to take chances, the parish itself, and of course whoever turns out to be the winner. I’m sure any member of the parish will have raffle tickets or information in you’re interested.
