…To ponder the inadequacy of the city’s recycling carts. It’s bad enough that the city picks up once a month, more or less, and that the paper side of containers are too small if a person subscribes to a single daily newspaper.

Throw in pick-up delays caused by holidays and  bad weather, plus the extra boxes and paper that once held gifts and you’ve got system failure.

The city’s recycling program is pretty marginal in the best of times. During the holidays, all of its shortcomings are revealed, like the brown branches of a dried-out Christmas tree that is dropping its needles.