The Pick Of The Litter In Taos, N.M.

This month we are collecting your stories about the good things Americans are doing to make their community a better place. Some of your contributions will become blog posts and the project will end with a story that weaves together submissions to make a story of Americans by Americans for Americans.

"Well, because the roadside looks like &%$#," is why retired insurance executive Bruce Boyd spends some of his free time picking up beer bottles, cans and an endless variety of trash alongside Highway 522 north of Taos.

On a recent Saturday morning we spot the solitary Boyd — in plum T-shirt and black jeans with a Buck knife strapped to his belt and trash bag in hand– scooping up shards of glass. Nearby, panoramic Taos Mountain looks lovely and — at least from a distance — litter-free.

For the record, Boyd says, "the local favorites are Corona and Bud Light."

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