By Michael Harrington

Bob picked a good day to do volunteer work cleaning up wire along the Arkansas River.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022, a wiry crew, crusty a few and some younger too, with nippers, snippers, cutters, a camera too. Our mission: Rusty barbed wire. Piece by piece by piece, long and short lengths, some buried, much exposed.

We split up, one group going south, the other to the north, commencing, we dislodged, dispatched, for disposal later, a couple of miles of barb wire.

Decaying posts acting as sentinels to a storied past, now wrapped in coiled strands, twisted into folds, nailed tight, still resisting with strength it was designed for. But our tools were convincing, the rusted wire resigning, it’s use over.

No nicks, no cuts, no tears of either kind, a lot of wire now in wound, landfill bound.

We beat the rain, (foothills west showed a dusting of snow.

Time and weather still in our favor, we unwind. Brats on the tailgate grill cooking by chef Bob, co-chef Lee, and setting the scene, Marji. Everything was great.

Chewing and socializing was dessert. Project: SUCCESS.