It's no news that I commute by bicycle most days, and I do it for a lot of reasons that I won't go into here. But beyond the scenery, the exercise, and just being outdoors, every once in a while, I'm treated to something else.

Every couple of weeks or so, I see a family riding their bikes to the beach to do some boogie boarding and surfing. Over the years, I've seen their family grow. First, it was the husband and wife, pulling their small child in a trailer. Then, when that child was old enough to ride a bike ... even with training wheels, and no matter how slow ... that child was riding a bike with them, and the next child was in the trailer.

I've watched their family grow. I've watched their infinite patience with each other, riding slow enough so that the slowest of them could keep up. Most of the time, that meant walking speed, as there was always a child just getting started. And as the older children grew faster, they themselves would carry the equipment on a trailer on the back of their bike.

I was treated to the same family today. And for once, I brought my camera. I'm not really comfortable taking pictures of people without asking, and I didn't want to ask. So pulled over and took some pictures of other stuff. It took them a long time to pass me, but once they did, I surreptitiously took their photo:



I mounted my bike and rode off in their direction. Not to far up the road from here, they had all stopped, and the littlest among them were scampering up the iceplanted hillside. "What an odd place for a rest." I thought. And the top of that hillside is adjacent to Vista Del Mar ... a busy street I would not want my children to get very close to.

When I caught up with them, I saw what was going on ... the children were picking up trash! Dockweiller Beach can be very popular, and on busy weekends, the trash bins overflow. Seabirds pick through the trash looking for food, and the winds blow it up on this hillside.

Most people who use the beach throw their trash away ... as they should. All to many, especially here, leave it on the ground for others to clean up, not only littering the beach, but teaching their kids that it's OK to do the same thing. Pretty disappointing.

But then there are the jewels in the rough ... the ones that go out of their way to not only do the right thing, but to teach their children to do the same. And sometimes, even one jewel is enough to know that at least this one thing is right with the world.