Hide It in Plain View

The process of construction has deconstructed my compost bins, so i put my kitchen waste into a 5-gallon bucket and eventually haul it to the compost piles out behind the vegetable garden. If the raccoons don't get to the bucket before it do.

This experience proves my point: Your compost pile needs to be easily accessible. Otherwise, you won't go there.

The corollary to "easily accessible" is: Hide it in plain view.

My usual compost bin is right beside the spot where i park my car, off to the left side of the driveway. The visitor who drives into the driveway is looking straight ahead at an arbor and at the house with magenta trim (now, there's a focal point!) on the right side. Their eyes are not taking in what's on the left side. Many people don't even see that there's a place to park their car, right beside my car! Instead they park in front of the garage door.

Many wise insights are likewise "hidden in plain view." One of these days, our own bodies will be going to the compost pile. Nevertheless, we avoid making our will or filling out our advance directives (such as living will, durable power of attorney for health care, and a regular power of attorney). We avoid talking to our nearest and dearest about what we would want to happen if we were disabled in a car crash today.

The mind thinks: "Oh, surely not today." "Other people die, but i won't."

If you don't want the raccoons raiding your compost pile or your loved ones dithering in the event of an emergency, make a trip to your compost pile now and take a good long look at it. Everything decays. Everything. And everyone.