What do you glean?

I glean ideas and concepts. Both on the web and off.

In suburban California, there is less chance to glean as there is in rural and urban France. Maybe there are more opportunities in city environments? Some businesses actually lock up their dumpsters because of liability reasons.

American's are too sue happy, that's why gleaning would never work on a large scale here. If someone got sick or hurt by rooting through the dumpsters, they'd sue the property owner. The closest we have systematic gleaning is freecycle.

No two persons ever watch the same movie.

I glean buttons, strings and scrap fabrics, to use for tailoring. And containers, any kind of reusable containers, and nice boxes. And if I buy higher-end clothes, the beautiful tags I glean to use as bookmarks.

I also glean smiles --- at parties, or at my son's school, there is always that somebody too shy and whom nobody notices. I talk to them, joke with them. Once in a while, but not always, I get a smile out of the person, and this I happily glean. They are useful for when I need a reminder why I am of value to this world.


I just e-mailed Brian May's website to praise him on his gleaning --- his guitar, which he made with scrap pieces (old fireplace faceboard, his mother's old knitting needle, shelf edging, etc.) 40 years ago.

I glean pretty much anything I either want to use myself, or think I can sell. Books, furniture, lamps, cookware, you name it. I rarely glean food for my own use. But I volunteered awhile for City Harvest, which (as an organization devoted to picking up the leftovers after farmer's markets and restaurants so they can be donated to the homeless shelters and soup kitchens) is very much in my line.

I'm not good at gleaning but at a push I glean buttons that I imagine sewing to make pretty patterns, but never do. I glean bits of broken crockery and ceramics that I like and imagine doing something a la Gaudi, but I never do. Most of my gleaning is intellectual.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.