Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Uniqueness of Nothing

It would have been unique to find nothing on a run. I think only once have I come home empty-handed and that was in part by design. I thought that would be the case Saturday. That’s right, Saturday. Friday, a scheduled running day, didn’t work out. And time was consumed Saturday by work and church commitments, leaving me to compose my thoughts at this late hour, more than half a day after I ran.

My feet compacted fresh wet snow Saturday morning. Another inch put us over the previous record for snowfall in February in Galesburg. Beyond the acclaimed uniqueness of snowflakes, which I did not witness falling, I was struck by the patterns in the melting snow along the gutters. No shape exactly repeated, no stretch of squiggles the same. 

Some details on a couple of Friday’s and Saturday’s finds. Riding home from work Friday, I stopped by Family Video. From there I headed east on Losey Street and was excited to see some noteworthy soft goods near Broad Street. The dirty hot pad and mostly clean Peace On Earth banner (divine protection? Cleanliness is next to Godliness after all.) were found along the terrace very near the street outside the Church of Christ Scientists, Broad and Losey. The hot pad is the coolest. No ironic pun intended. It reads: On the move. The Chevrolet ‘70s. BOB SHOTTENKIRK CHEVROLET “Putting You First Keeps Us First.” Abingdon, Ill. Phone 462-2396. It’s still pretty ratty after washing, but it’s still a neat memento. Oh, Shottenkirk is no longer in Abingdon, but there are dealerships elsewhere.

Saturday was looking to be a bust when I came upon a little stretchy blue circle (neoprene?) with a plastic clip attached to it. Looks like one of those dealy-bobs that you use to hang your water bottle from a D-ring, but it isn’t strong enough. Maybe it’s for clipping your keys to your water bottle or something like that. It’s from the North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness. The link will explain it. Weirdly, it stinks even after washing. C’mon, Tide!

 A block later, maybe less, a wad of dark something drew me over to the curb again. Reaching to pick it up I could see it was a knit item, most likely a stocking cap, but it appeared to possibly be mangled. I was quite excited to discover that not only was it in good shape, but it was a full ski mask, camouflage, with a fleece face. Very nice!

Saturday's Stats
Temp: 25 degrees F
Distance: 3.5 miles
Weekly Total: 15.3 miles
Treasure: 1 camo ski mask; 1 water bottle clip loop (NCCPHP); 1 generic cola can.
Bonus (From Friday): 1 Peace On Earth banner; 1 hot pad from Bob Shottenkirk Chevrolet, Abingdon, Illinois (c. 1970s); 1 pink knit glove; 1 black Thinsulate glove. 

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
Why Georgia (live) - John Mayer
Englishman in New York - Sting
Hear You Me - Jimmy Eat World
I Need You - The Beatles
You May Be Right - The Beatles
Your Body is a Wonderland (live) - John Mayer
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) - Pink Floyd
Numb - Pink
You Like Me Too Much - The Beatles
I Hate You (My Friend) - John Oszajca
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

No comments:

Post a Comment