When Heather and I were living on Des Moines' east side, we were amused at how fast our discarded stuff would disappear from the curb -- 27 minutes for a washer and dryer set, for example -- via a stranger's pickup, van, etc. And we thought such a put-n-take culture was unique to that neck of the woods.

But we were wrong.

At our suburban curb today, a mower lasted less than five minutes. And a bench didn't last two minutes. Both were wisked away in the backs of trucks teeming with other neighbors' large "items" due for retrieval by Artistic Waste this week.

The best "find" I saw rolling past today was a cherry step-through cruiser, propped upright atop a heap of lawn furniture like a queen on her thrown. Not sure what the 300-pound guy driving the truck had planned for it...

Anyway, my yard work is done (for now). And people love free stuff. That's all I got for Sunday...

Off to Dallas for a few days of work. Cheers!