There’s a large hunk of rusted iron lingering in my backyard. Waiting.

Crusted with dirt, nearly 4-foot square, it is made from I-beams. A few months ago, I dug it up. My wife and son helped me haul the heavy beast over to a short section of fence. There it leans and will have to keep waiting.

The metal concoction was a gift from my dad to be used as a fire pit. He welded the beams together and attached small tubes so I could slide a grill down over a fire. The grill was adjustable up and down and could swing in and out from the fire. A wonderful gift that I used only a few times over the years.

We reseeded our backyard this year and decided to pull out the fire pit. I thought about scrapping it. But could I toss something my dad made? Then my youngest son said, “Yeah, I helped weld it.” My dad taught him how to weld. This was one of his projects. So now it’s a metal memory coated in sentiment.

Then my wife jumped in and said, “I love it. It looks like a sculpture.” I looked at it and thought, “Yeah, maybe. Kind of looks like an artistic window frame wherever we put it. We could even paint it.”

So it waits and probably will remain where it’s at for some time. When I look at it now, I see something crafted by my dad with my son. It won’t be scrapped any time soon.

So, that’s my story on turning what could be trash into a treasure. It also was a sneaky way to continue some trash talking.

Last week, I applauded Nelson Molina. He manned a garbage truck for the New York City Department of Sanitation. For 34 years, he sifted through garbage to rescue what he called treasures. His treasures became a museum of sorts, covering the second floor of a sanitation garage in East Harlem.

His message to us was simple. Watch what you toss away. “Everything can have a home,” he said. I wanted to share that message, which prompted some interesting responses.

My Aunt Ruth noted her husband gets frustrated with her collection of plastic containers and lids: “Oh, I still have some Tupperware and various Rubbermaid bowls, but deli and cottage cheese containers are great for leftover soups, etc. ( It feels better when ‘disposables’ can be tossed when something leftover never makes it back to the table again!) And that is just food. ... Surely you look for ‘good boxes’ for using again, too?”

Ahhh, she knows me well. I do save boxes of all sizes. They could hold Christmas gifts for easier wrapping. I also wonder, on any given day, how many thousands of Amazon delivery boxes go into a landfill.

My wife also knows me well: “Yes, unfortunately. Boxes, bins, tubs, jars. All are precious commodities to Lonny Cain.”

Patricia L., however, agreed with Aunt Ruth: “Oh, and if you have family over for supper and there are good leftovers, it’s nice to have something to put those leftovers in for someone else to take home!” Then she added her own dilemma: “I have a charcoal grill that needs to go, but I have guilt feelings about it. My mom ordered it for me from Illinois to Indiana. My son-in-law put it together and delivered it to me. We didn’t use it much and I fear it’s had better days after sitting outside. But I just can’t toss it!”

Then this from Kim M.: “My son and his wife frequented the Magic Dumpster at their apartment complex that provided their first kitchen table and four chairs in near-new condition. Now that they own their house, they sadly pay retail price at stores or occasionally find a deal on FB Marketplace. But they miss the Magic Dumpster.”

OK. I’ll end it there. But … come on … admit it. A Magic Dumpster sounds pretty cool.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail the NewsTribune, 426 Second St., La Salle IL 61301.