Butter Santa and the Aftermath of the New Year

I noticed with child like delight figures moulded from butter in the supermarket. Silly novelty items that appeared weeks before Christmas. They have since vanished. We did not buy one but I did take a photo.

On New Year’s Day, we wandered out into the quiet city streets and discovered the local glass recycling point was full and surrounded by evidence of the night before. The funnel shown in the centre of the photo descends into a large container submerged below the pavement.

Last year we noted piles of Christmas trees abandoned on the street corners. They remained for months ebbing in size as some were removed, only to replaced by more. That the cycle continued for so long means somewhere trees are continuing to shed pine needles on the floors of apartments well into the new year.

The commune has also noticed this cycle and this year signs have gone up near the park entrance asking for trees to be left there. The pile is impressive but it has not entirely stopped the informal street corner collections.