Take the Money and Run

People laugh at the items I pick up while running. Last night my own grandmother asked, "Where'd you get that ugly hat?" when I showed up at the nursing home sporting my gold Galesburg Silver Streaks stocking cap. I don't think she heard me when I replied, "I found it in the middle of the street." That surely would have drawn a scowl of disgusted disapproval.

But let 'em laugh now. Today was the big payoff. I picked up $500,000.50! You read that right, five hundred thousand dollars and fifty cents.

I decided to run errands literally. I needed to hit the credit union for some cash to make good on my Register-Mail Paper Kettle donations for the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign, so I figured I'd work it into my run, rather than make a side trip on my bike. Running west on Mary Street a familiar-looking slip of white paper in the gutter catches my eye. I make a U-turn and pick up the 50 cent Hy-Vee milk coupon, the kind that come in the coupon booklets the GHS band and other groups sell each year. Hey, that's like real money -- 50 cents off a gallon of milk. Unfortunately it expired in 2008. OK, so that's really worth nothing. Subtract that from the total.

Still, $500,000 is the real haul. Who cares about chump change?

So after running through the credit union drive-thru, I head downtown to pay my debt to the Salvation Army. On Monroe Street, just off Losey, I see a blue detachable hood lying in the leaves along the gutter. Snapped a photo, but left the hood. After all, it was no use to me and it's possible, however unlikely, the kid who lost it on his way to school will discover it on his way home.

Well, where's the $500 grand, you ask. It came near the end, as I ran north on Chambers Street -- not a likely location to find $500,000. Nevertheless, there it was, poking out from the leaves on the sidewalk just south of North Street: one pale blue $500,000 bill -- genuine Monopoly money, baby! I couldn't pass it up.

Today's stats then:
Temp: a balmy 43 degrees F
Distance: 3.95 miles
Treasure: 1 expired 50-cent coupon, 1 $500,000 bill - Monopoly money, boy's coat hood (left behind)

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys
I Melt With You - Modern English
Reunion - Collective Soul
Tin Man - The Avett Brothers
Supermodels - Kendall Payne
My Vietnam - Pink
Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine
We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
Another Girl - The Beatles
January Wedding - The Avett Brothers
Kick Drum Heart - The Avett Brothers
I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay

Revved up like a deuce ...

... another runner in the night. That's right, a night run in November. Because I skipped my Friday morning run in favor of Black Friday shopping with the girls, I had to make up the miles today. The down side, of course, is that you don't spot too many treasures in the dark; decorative street lights in my neighborhood look nice and historic, but they're not very bright. That brings up another down side of night running: road hazards. Fortunately I didn't stumble upon any, but the inability to see the terrain ahead can be dangerous, especially on old streets with crumbling and buckling asphalt.

I left the house at 5:10 and returned about 30 minutes later, logging 3 miles to bring my weekly total to just under 14 miles. The outside temperature when I returned: 32 degrees F.

With no goodies to report (I did spot what I thought might be a flash drive, but it was just a piece of broken plastic), I'll report on tonight's iPod playlist. With the Nano set on shuffle, here's what I heard:

Foolish Games - Jewel
Sweet Thing - The Waterboys
Streetcorner Symphony - Rob Thomas
Love You 'Til the End - The Pogues
Englishman in New York - Sting
Lightning Crashes - Live

So, there you have it. Maybe Monday will be better.

Irony, iruny

I suppose it's ironic that I should start my running blog on a day when I haven't run. What the hey, it's Thanksgiving and I have a little time because I'm not the one doing the cooking. Lucky me. Lucky family! I hit the streets three or four times a week, jogging an average of 13 miles total (3 miles one day, 6 another, 4 the third, whatever).

Mostly I notice the weather, the natural surroundings in my neighborhood, oh, and the freakin' garbage. (More on that later.) But just after Halloween I began to notice goodies. No, I'm not talking about candy droppings, though I did spot a few Tootsie Rolls and Dum-Dum suckers. I started finding cool stuff on my runs. Nov. 1 I picked up a couple of stocking caps. Later I found two bangle bracelets and a child's knit glove. That same day I rescued a Papa John's pizza flag on a broken car-window clip-pole. There's a lot more, and that'll be my subject matter, primarily.

OK, why would I pick up cigarette hard packs? It's a long story, so I'll try to abbreviate. I found a cedar cigarette holder from the Wisconsin Dells with two wells for packs of cigarette and a slot for a book of matches. I thought a couple hard packs would complete the look and provide storage for some of my many earbuds. Photo later.