Isn’t it Ironic

This blog began as a tale of castoffs found while running. It’s taken some diversions over the years. Along the way I’ve written about movies and music and mountains. Occasionally the treasures from the road I’ve discovered not while running, but while biking — my favorite mode of transportation (it’s way better than running). On even rarer occasion I’ve spotted something from the seat of a car and either stopped on the spot or returned on foot or bike for the find. Such was the case today.

Jay and I were wheeling into the parking lot of Wendy’s on North Henderson Street Wednesday afternoon when my eye caught a red object in the road. Something silvery sprouted from one end. I thought perhaps it was a tape measure; you know the kind: circular, cloth/vinyl tape, metal loop on the end for hooking over screws or nails or whatever.

I was wrong. I hopped out when Jay halted the car to wait for a parking space and dashed into the street. That tape measure turned out to be a little bluetooth speaker, about 2-by-4 inches. I snatched up the little Altec Lansing H2O Mini. The silvery loop was a tiny, twisted carabiner for hanging the speaker from a belt loop or a key ring or something. The red rubber shell was coated in road grit. I wondered if it would work or I would have to throw it away.

I’ll get back to that later.

Well before we reached Henderson Street, just a few blocks north of the newspaper on Prairie Street — fittingly near the railroad tracks — lay a piece of dark cloth of some sort. I decided I’d ride that way home to have a closer look. Thankfully it was still there after work: a stocking cap, bearing at Amtrak logo, “Central Division” stitched beneath. Looks like official gear!

The stocking cap just came out of the washer and is lying flat to dry. It’ll see use next winter.
Susan plugged the speaker into a charger when I brought it home and connected her phone via bluetooth as soon as it registered it was powered up. Music to our ears! Not the best sound (“weak audio performance,” noted pcmag.com). I haven’t played it long enough to test the claim of “mediocre battery life.” But I’ve heard worse little speakers — bigger ones, too — and it filled the car with the windows down on a trip to Monmouth today. Not bad — especially for the price. (I wouldn’t pay $39 for it, but I didn’t have to.)

Anyway, the point of this exercise is not that I found stuff. I ran again. I haven’t moved my legs in quasi-running motion since September and the Runway Incursion 5K put on by the National Stearman Fly-In. Run Galesburg Run is coming up in a little over a month. Then there’s the Railroad Days Run a few weeks later.

Let the training begin.

Today's Stats (April 13, 2017)
Temp: 54 degrees F
Distance: 2.05 miles
Weekly Total: 2.05 miles
Treasure: Altec Lansing H2O Mini speaker (red); Amtrak Central Division stocking cap (navy)

iPhone Playlist (Shuffle):
Because - Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Jo Anderson, Dana Fuchs, T.V. Carpio & Martin Luther McCoy
Sailin’ Shoes - Robert Palmer
Scandinavian Skies - Billy Joel
Red Dress - James McMurtry
Open Your Heart - Madonna
Oklahoma - The Call
All I Want Is You - U2
Back 2 Good - MB 20
A Face to Call Home - John Mayer