HEAPS UPON HEAPS

"Life-threatening cold will blast the Northeast while a blizzard rages in New England this weekend."
So say the weather predictors. Meanwhile here in the U.S. Northern Rockies our February weather is more April-ish.  What snow we got this winter is gone and the normal cold temperatures are just a joke.

 Sort of like a jester’s hat in a tree.  Is this supposed to be funny or a warning for even more weirdness to come?

 The paper bag dumped in the parking lot says, “i’m lovin’ it.”   My morning walk was a little ahead of schedule so I picked it up.

 A couple of steps away was an empty plastic water bottle.  It joined the greasy food wrappers and paper napkins in the bag.

 A block away (near the McDonald’s drivethrough—how surprising) a half-empty soda container was added to the collection.

 By the time I had walked a few more blocks I’d picked up more plastic bottles, empty cigarette cartons, a spoon, a wooden hanger, a rag and a piece of clear plastic.  My McDonald’s bag was overflowing and threatening to fall apart.  However, one of the ubiquitous plastic grocery bags came to my rescue.

 I continued on down the bike path, filling up my new bag as I went.  It was almost full when I found another which came with a starter set of empty beer cans.

 By the time I was headed home I had three plastic bags full of trash.  I was only gathering what was right in my way and I passed on the freshly filled disposable diaper.

Again good fortune shined. A short distance away behind a warehouse was just what I was looking for.  On my way there I picked up my last item: the jawbone from some unfortunate carcass.

I tossed my gloves in the laundry as soon as I got home.

Judges 15:16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

THE MYSTERIOUS SECRET LIFE OF SOCKS AND OTHER STUFF

The comic genius, Jerry Seinfled, has a routine on the secret life of socks.

“I admire socks.  They have great ambition, great drive.  How many times you do a big load of laundry, you go to the dryer, you take out your socks, you count them up—one of them got out!  He escaped.  He took off on his own.  What are his chances out there?  I don’t think they’re good.  Sometimes you see a dirty sock by the street there, just one sock.  It’s a sock that didn’t make it.  I don’t know how they escape.  They have their own ideas…”

I go for walks in the morning around town and occasionally see socks that didn’t make it.  But socks aren’t the only objects escaping.

One of the first things I stopped to photograph was a fork in the road.  I didn’t take it.

 Next I came across a fugitive spoon.

 Then another fork.

 And a snow-covered toothbrush.  Yes, a toothbrush has a good reason to make a break for a better life.

 Here we see two mismatched socks on the run.  Probably couldn’t get approval for a mixed marriage.  The next day they were gone.  I hope they found happiness.

  

Maybe this is their love child, although it doesn’t look much like either of them.

 A sweat sock that tried to make a break for it but came to a bitter end under a tree in the park.

 One snowy day I discovered a runaway shoe.

 Only a few days later, a sandal.  The long winter has been a challenge for all of us.

 Melting snow has uncovered a whole bunch of escapees.  You know.  You keep your gloves in your pocket and one day you discover one is gone. 

 This one may even be trying to point the way to the glove promise land.

Now almost every day I see another glove.

 Where are they trying to go?

 What are they escaping from?

 Just one lone glove at a time.

 If I came around in the dark would they be crawling along with their fingers?

 And here’s a baby glove--left behind and abandoned in the street far from a clothes dryer or even a house.  Only questions.  No real answers to the mystery.