Street Sweepers

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Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good.

Speaker 1 And then you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I create everything you hear on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 1 With Audio Engineering by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week. And this week we are giving to Rain Coast Conservation Society.
They inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.

Speaker 1 You can learn more about them in our show notes.

Speaker 1 For an ad-free and bonus-filled version of this show

Speaker 1 and to support the work we do, all for just a dime a day, we hope you'll consider becoming a premium subscriber.

Speaker 1 There's a link in our notes and Spotify and Apple users can click the handy join button. right on our show page.

Speaker 1 The first month is on us.

Speaker 1 And just because you might be a grown-up, and it's okay if you're not,

Speaker 1 all our stories are family-friendly.

Speaker 1 It doesn't mean you've outgrown the need for a bedtime story.

Speaker 1 It's some old-time medicine for insomnia, which we might now call cognitive reshuffling.

Speaker 1 All you have to do is listen.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice,

Speaker 1 and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 The more you use this technique,

Speaker 1 the more quickly you'll fall and return to sleep.

Speaker 1 If you wake later in the night, don't hesitate to turn another episode right back on.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight

Speaker 1 is called Street Sweepers, and it's a story about an early morning tending of the village lanes.

Speaker 1 It's also about hoppers and windrows, zinnia heads, and locust pods, clearing small floods near blocked-up drains, and a simple but important way

Speaker 1 to care for a place you love.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 lights out, campers.

Speaker 1 Snuggle down into your sheets

Speaker 1 and let your whole body

Speaker 1 relax.

Speaker 1 The day is over.

Speaker 1 It's over.

Speaker 1 Nothing left to do

Speaker 1 or attend to.

Speaker 1 Soften your jaw,

Speaker 1 your shoulders,

Speaker 1 your hands,

Speaker 1 and your feet.

Speaker 1 Draw a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh from your mouth

Speaker 1 once more, breathe in

Speaker 1 and let it out.

Speaker 1 Good

Speaker 1 Street sweepers.

Speaker 1 There was certainly a time in my life

Speaker 1 when I didn't find much pleasure

Speaker 1 in being the first one up,

Speaker 1 when my body just required too much rest

Speaker 1 to rise before the sun.

Speaker 1 Those days still hold their own allure.

Speaker 1 Being able to sleep

Speaker 1 into the late morning,

Speaker 1 waking, feeling so replete and relaxed,

Speaker 1 then able to stay up late,

Speaker 1 to have adventures that didn't start until long after the sun went down.

Speaker 1 Maybe I am romanticizing those times now.

Speaker 1 But no,

Speaker 1 they were romantic.

Speaker 1 They were fun.

Speaker 1 And now

Speaker 1 so is this.

Speaker 1 So is being alone on the street at dawn

Speaker 1 as the sky just begins to shade lighter by a degree at a time.

Speaker 1 The air is so fresh and clean,

Speaker 1 it feels like the molecules have just come off the production line.

Speaker 1 I stood for a few moments,

Speaker 1 breathing them in,

Speaker 1 breathing them out,

Speaker 1 knowing a moment

Speaker 1 of true excitement for being alive and awake,

Speaker 1 just where I was.

Speaker 1 Then began to sort through my brushes and rakes,

Speaker 1 outfitting my sweeper

Speaker 1 for the morning's work

Speaker 1 There is more than one of us in the village a whole crew, in fact

Speaker 1 But our sweepers are stored all across the town

Speaker 1 So I was on my own as I climbed aboard

Speaker 1 She started right up

Speaker 1 and I steered her out of her garage

Speaker 1 and onto the street.

Speaker 1 Each neighborhood gets to name their own sweeper,

Speaker 1 and this has led to a friendly rivalry.

Speaker 1 Each set of streets looking for the best name.

Speaker 1 The cleaner by the park was called

Speaker 1 a broom with a view.

Speaker 1 Grime and punishment worked through downtown.

Speaker 1 West of the village by the cemetery,

Speaker 1 the grim sweeper cleaned up,

Speaker 1 and my own avenues were tended by sweep dreams,

Speaker 1 a nod to my own tendency to be the first one at work,

Speaker 1 quietly cleaning

Speaker 1 while the houses around me slept.

Speaker 1 I rode close to the curb,

Speaker 1 watching the bristles of the gutter broom rotating

Speaker 1 and clearing away debris.

Speaker 1 This time of year we were cleaning up linden blossoms and locust pods.

Speaker 1 There was still a bit of cottonwood fluff,

Speaker 1 plenty of grass clippings and whirly birds.

Speaker 1 I could see marigold heads and zinnia leaves that had blown from some one's yard.

Speaker 1 It was all swept into the main broom

Speaker 1 the rotating bristles that lived in the belly of sweet dreams.

Speaker 1 They in turn swept the windrow into the hopper.

Speaker 1 Behind me, a fine mist was spraying out onto the pavement

Speaker 1 to keep dust down until the next cleaning.

Speaker 1 It was a very satisfying experience

Speaker 1 to roll slowly down the street

Speaker 1 and see the clutter in front of me,

Speaker 1 then

Speaker 1 to turn in my seat

Speaker 1 and see the clean, damp road behind.

Speaker 1 The scope of work for a street sweeper

Speaker 1 depended very much on the season.

Speaker 1 And while you'd not likely be surprised to hear

Speaker 1 that autumn is a very busy time of year for us,

Speaker 1 there are moments

Speaker 1 from spring through summer that rival it

Speaker 1 when the cottonwood flies at the end of May,

Speaker 1 the sweepers shake their heads at the snow drifts of sticky fluff

Speaker 1 piled along the curbs.

Speaker 1 We sighed and clucked our tongues in July

Speaker 1 when the heat led maples and lindens to drip sap onto the street,

Speaker 1 turning every loose leaf gummy and clogging up our bristles

Speaker 1 and don't even get me started on parades.

Speaker 1 Heavy end of the season storms, clogged drains with twigs and mud,

Speaker 1 though

Speaker 1 and I think I wasn't alone in this

Speaker 1 coming across a small flood at a gutter

Speaker 1 and raking out the debris

Speaker 1 till the water began to spin

Speaker 1 and spiral and empty through the spillway

Speaker 1 was actually something I looked forward to.

Speaker 1 Sometimes a homeowner would wave me down,

Speaker 1 point toward a up drain on a side street,

Speaker 1 and a small crowd would gather till I cleared it out.

Speaker 1 They'd clap

Speaker 1 as it drained,

Speaker 1 and I'd stop to take a bow.

Speaker 1 I turned down another street,

Speaker 1 continuing to sweep away dust and dirt.

Speaker 1 I noticed a gray cat in a window watching me as I inched past.

Speaker 1 I raised a hand to wave to her,

Speaker 1 and she blinked in a slow way

Speaker 1 that felt like a returned greeting.

Speaker 1 In another house I saw saw windows being pushed open on the ground floor.

Speaker 1 A front door pulled back to let the breeze in.

Speaker 1 The village was starting to come to life.

Speaker 1 So far,

Speaker 1 I hadn't seen a stretch of road

Speaker 1 that needed more than one pass

Speaker 1 until I rounded the curve by the corner store

Speaker 1 and saw the cement speckled

Speaker 1 with nickel-sized purple stains.

Speaker 1 I paused, sweep dreams,

Speaker 1 then turned her key to off

Speaker 1 and climbed down.

Speaker 1 The arch enemy of the street sweeper had arrived.

Speaker 1 Mulberries.

Speaker 1 I circled the stained section of concrete,

Speaker 1 eyeing the mess

Speaker 1 and taking out my handkerchief

Speaker 1 to wipe my glasses.

Speaker 1 Out came my hose.

Speaker 1 I started by washing down the curb and pavement

Speaker 1 with a bit of cleaner.

Speaker 1 Then I selected the right size hand broom

Speaker 1 and got to scrubbing.

Speaker 1 The next few weeks

Speaker 1 would see me doing the same here,

Speaker 1 day after day.

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 I wouldn't be bowed by the persistence of the berries.

Speaker 1 I too

Speaker 1 could be persistent.

Speaker 1 After I scrubbed and re-hung my broom,

Speaker 1 I climbed aboard and started sweep dreams back up.

Speaker 1 We rolled over the Sudzy mess slowly,

Speaker 1 and I looked behind us to see that we'd made good progress.

Speaker 1 At the corner I turned and made a second pass.

Speaker 1 The street was nearly stain free now

Speaker 1 but still

Speaker 1 I stopped to rinse the spot with my hose

Speaker 1 one more time

Speaker 1 to flush the last bits of soap and seeds down the sewer.

Speaker 1 I liked a job well done,

Speaker 1 a job that was completed,

Speaker 1 even if it took a bit of extra time and energy.

Speaker 1 It was a point of pride to me

Speaker 1 that the streets in my territory

Speaker 1 were well tended and cared for.

Speaker 1 It was probably something that people didn't really notice.

Speaker 1 They'd only be likely to notice the mess,

Speaker 1 not the lack of it.

Speaker 1 But that was okay with me.

Speaker 1 I was happy to work in the background

Speaker 1 and give the village a sense of order

Speaker 1 and being well kept.

Speaker 1 I thought it lent itself to the overall sense of this place,

Speaker 1 just as a good place to be.

Speaker 1 That was enough.

Speaker 1 I re-hung the hose and kept on with my work.

Speaker 1 When I got sweep dreams back to her garage,

Speaker 1 I cleaned out the bristles of her brushes,

Speaker 1 emptied her hopper,

Speaker 1 and refilled her tanks for tomorrow.

Speaker 1 Outside, the sun was rising above the horizon,

Speaker 1 and traffic was just beginning to pick up.

Speaker 1 I gave my sweeper a pat on the hood.

Speaker 1 Those mulberries would be back to morrow,

Speaker 1 but so would we

Speaker 1 street sweepers

Speaker 1 There was certainly a time

Speaker 1 in my life

Speaker 1 when I didn't find much pleasure

Speaker 1 in being the first one up

Speaker 1 when my body just required too much rest

Speaker 1 to rise before the sun.

Speaker 1 those days

Speaker 1 hold their own allure

Speaker 1 being able to sleep into the late morning

Speaker 1 waking feeling

Speaker 1 so replete

Speaker 1 and relaxed

Speaker 1 then

Speaker 1 able to stay up late

Speaker 1 to to have adventures

Speaker 1 that didn't start

Speaker 1 until long after the sun went down.

Speaker 1 Maybe I am romanticizing those times now,

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 no,

Speaker 1 they were romantic,

Speaker 1 they were fun,

Speaker 1 And so is this.

Speaker 1 So is

Speaker 1 being alone on the street at dawn

Speaker 1 as the sky just begins to shade lighter

Speaker 1 by a degree at a time.

Speaker 1 The air is so fresh and clean.

Speaker 1 It feels like the molecules

Speaker 1 have just come off the production line.

Speaker 1 I stood for a few moments,

Speaker 1 breathing them in,

Speaker 1 breathing them out,

Speaker 1 knowing a moment

Speaker 1 of true excitement

Speaker 1 for being alive

Speaker 1 and awake

Speaker 1 just where I was

Speaker 1 Then

Speaker 1 began to sort through

Speaker 1 my brushes and rakes,

Speaker 1 outfitting my sweeper

Speaker 1 for the morning's work

Speaker 1 There is more than one of us in the village

Speaker 1 a whole crew, in fact.

Speaker 1 But our sweepers are stored all across the town.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 I was on my own

Speaker 1 as I climbed aboard.

Speaker 1 She started right up,

Speaker 1 and I steered her out of the garage

Speaker 1 and on to the street.

Speaker 1 Each neighborhood gets to name their own sweeper

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 this has led to a friendly rivalry

Speaker 1 Each set of streets

Speaker 1 looking for the best name

Speaker 1 The cleaner by the park

Speaker 1 was called

Speaker 1 a broom with a view.

Speaker 1 Crime and punishment

Speaker 1 worked through downtown

Speaker 1 west of the village by the cemetery,

Speaker 1 the grim sweeper cleaned up,

Speaker 1 and my own avenues were tended by sweep dreams,

Speaker 1 a nod to my tendency to be the first one at work,

Speaker 1 quietly clearing

Speaker 1 while the houses around me slept.

Speaker 1 I rode close to the curb, curb,

Speaker 1 watching the bristles

Speaker 1 of a gutter broom

Speaker 1 rotating

Speaker 1 and clearing away debris.

Speaker 1 This time of year

Speaker 1 we were cleaning up linden blossoms

Speaker 1 and locust pods.

Speaker 1 There was still a bit of cottonwood fluff

Speaker 1 and plenty of grass clippings

Speaker 1 and whirly birds.

Speaker 1 I could see marigold heads

Speaker 1 and zinny leaves

Speaker 1 that had blown from someone's yard.

Speaker 1 It was all swept

Speaker 1 into the main broom,

Speaker 1 the rotating bristles

Speaker 1 that lived in the belly of sweet dreams

Speaker 1 They in turn

Speaker 1 swept the windrow

Speaker 1 into the hopper

Speaker 1 Behind me

Speaker 1 a fine mist

Speaker 1 was spraying out

Speaker 1 onto the pavement

Speaker 1 to keep dust down

Speaker 1 until the next cleaning.

Speaker 1 It was

Speaker 1 a very satisfying experience

Speaker 1 to roll

Speaker 1 slowly down the street

Speaker 1 and see the clutter in front of me,

Speaker 1 Then to turn in my seat

Speaker 1 and see the clean, damp road behind

Speaker 1 The scope of work

Speaker 1 for a street sweeper

Speaker 1 depended very much

Speaker 1 on the season

Speaker 1 And while you're not likely to be surprised to hear

Speaker 1 that autumn is a very busy time of year for us,

Speaker 1 there are moments

Speaker 1 in the spring and summer

Speaker 1 that rival it

Speaker 1 when the cottonwood flies

Speaker 1 at the end of May

Speaker 1 the sweepers shake their heads at the snow drifts

Speaker 1 of sticky fluff piled along the curbs.

Speaker 1 We sighed

Speaker 1 and clicked our tongues in July

Speaker 1 when the heat

Speaker 1 led maples and lindens

Speaker 1 to drip sap into the street,

Speaker 1 turning every loose leaf gummy

Speaker 1 and clogging up our bristles

Speaker 1 and don't even get me started

Speaker 1 on parades

Speaker 1 heavy end of the season storms,

Speaker 1 clogged drains with twigs and mud,

Speaker 1 though,

Speaker 1 and I think

Speaker 1 I wasn't alone in this

Speaker 1 coming across a small flood at a gutter

Speaker 1 and raking out the debris

Speaker 1 till the water began to spin

Speaker 1 and spiral

Speaker 1 and empty through the spillway

Speaker 1 was actually something I looked forward to.

Speaker 1 Sometimes a homeowner would wave me down,

Speaker 1 point toward a blocked-up drain on a side street,

Speaker 1 and a small crowd would gather

Speaker 1 till I cleared it out.

Speaker 1 They'd clap as it drained,

Speaker 1 and I'd stop to take a bow.

Speaker 1 I turned down another street,

Speaker 1 continuing to sweep away dust and dirt.

Speaker 1 I noticed a gray cat in a window watching me as I inched past.

Speaker 1 I raised a hand to wave to her,

Speaker 1 and she blinked in a slow way

Speaker 1 that felt like a returned greeting.

Speaker 1 In another house, I saw windows

Speaker 1 being pushed open on the ground floor

Speaker 1 a front door pulled back to let the breeze in

Speaker 1 the village was starting to come to life

Speaker 1 So far

Speaker 1 I hadn't seen a stretch of road

Speaker 1 that needed more than one pass

Speaker 1 until

Speaker 1 I rounded the curve by the corner store

Speaker 1 and saw the cement speckled

Speaker 1 with nickel-sized purple stains.

Speaker 1 I paused sweep dreams,

Speaker 1 then turned her key to off and climbed down.

Speaker 1 The archenemy of the street sweeper

Speaker 1 had arrived.

Speaker 1 Mulberries

Speaker 1 I circled the stained section of concrete,

Speaker 1 eyeing the mess

Speaker 1 and taking out my handkerchief to wipe my glasses.

Speaker 1 Out came my hose.

Speaker 1 I started by washing down the curb and pavement with a bit of cleaner,

Speaker 1 then selected the right size hand broom

Speaker 1 and got to scrubbing.

Speaker 1 The next few weeks would see me doing the same here,

Speaker 1 day

Speaker 1 after day.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 I wouldn't be bowed by the persistence of the berries.

Speaker 1 I too

Speaker 1 could be persistent.

Speaker 1 After I scrubbed and re hung my broom,

Speaker 1 I climbed aboard

Speaker 1 and started sweep dreams back up.

Speaker 1 We rolled over the sudsy mess slowly.

Speaker 1 I looked behind us

Speaker 1 to see that we'd made good progress.

Speaker 1 At the corner I turned

Speaker 1 and made a second pass.

Speaker 1 The street was nearly stain free now,

Speaker 1 but I still stopped to rinse the spot with my hose

Speaker 1 one more time

Speaker 1 to flush the last bits of soap and seeds down the sewer.

Speaker 1 I liked a job well done,

Speaker 1 a job that was completed,

Speaker 1 even if it took a bit of extra time and energy.

Speaker 1 It was a point of pride to me

Speaker 1 that the streets in my territory were well tended and cared for.

Speaker 1 It was probably something that

Speaker 1 people didn't really notice.

Speaker 1 They'd only be likely to notice the mess,

Speaker 1 not the lack of it.

Speaker 1 But that was okay with me.

Speaker 1 I was happy to work in the background

Speaker 1 and give the village a sense of order and being well kept.

Speaker 1 I thought it lent itself to the overall sense of this place

Speaker 1 as a good place to be.

Speaker 1 And that was enough.

Speaker 1 I re-hung the hose

Speaker 1 and kept on with my work.

Speaker 1 When I got sweep dreams

Speaker 1 back to her garage,

Speaker 1 I cleaned the bristles of her brushes,

Speaker 1 emptied her hopper,

Speaker 1 and refilled her tanks for tomorrow.

Speaker 1 Outside, the sun was rising above the horizon,

Speaker 1 and traffic was just beginning to pick up.

Speaker 1 I gave my sweeper a pat on the hood.

Speaker 1 Those mulberries would be back to morrow,

Speaker 1 but so would we,

Speaker 1 sweet dreams.