It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, with clear blue skies, blustery winds and delightful fall colors on the hillsides around Andover, so my wife, daughter, and I decided to take a walk up on Tucker Mountain to enjoy the day.

We were crestfallen to discover that since the last time we went up there, somebody had dumped a big load of trash. Where there had been a hillside that had been covered with blueberries, blackberries, and tiny highland plants, usually only seen above the treeline in the White Mountains, there were now junk car parts and bags of trash strewn down the slope.

One of the things we most enjoy about Andover is the justifiable pride our neighbors have in our town and its beautiful surroundings, and the way that we take care to protect our lakes, our trails, and the country roadsides that we share.

All of us have made messes, whether an inadvertent a spill in the kitchen or a slip of paper blowing out of a moving vehicle. Usually we clean up our own messes right away, but sometimes we can’t. We can’t stop the car to grab that slip of paper now riding away on the wind, any more than we can grab that hat now sinking to the bottom of the lake, or round up the exhaust smoke blowing out our cars’ tailpipes. Some bad stuff gets away from every one of us, some of it by accident, and some through negligence. But does that mean we inevitably resign our surroundings to get dirtier and nastier? I certainly hope not!

I’m saddened that somebody, perhaps not even an Andover resident, saw fit to gut the interior from their car and throw it in a solitary and picturesque spot in our village. I’d be pleased if that person volunteered to pick it up and dispose of it in a responsible way, but it’s possible it will fall to others to do the right thing in their place. (If it is your mess and you are reading this, play the hero and go get it! Who would know?) While we are at it, let’s go out with friends to collect the abandoned glass and cans around the fire rings hidden along our snowmobile trails, in the woods and at the falls.

I figure the best I can do to make amends for the bad stuff that gets away from me is to try to “leave it better than I found it” whenever I can. I applaud the many good people of Andover and surrounding towns who have been doing the same even longer than I have, and I applaud those who are pitching in for the first time.  My Andover neighbors go out and pick up trash along roadsides from time to time, and many more volunteers keep our beaches and miles and miles of trails looking nice.

We can only keep our towns and our beautiful New Hampshire surroundings wonderful if we work at it!