Things Found in the Street – January thaw edition

I live in the Northern part of the United States where it is expected to be cold with snow on the ground from December to March (at least). Recently, we’ve had some warmer weather that has caused much of the snow to melt. We also had a significant amount of rain which has washed some snow away. I find rain to be particularly depressing (I have my own PTSD reasons for this) but it’s even worse in the winter. It’s not supposed to rain in the winter, it’s supposed to snow. Snow is beautiful; rain leaves everything muddy and ugly and it uncovers the garbage littering the streets.

Another thing uncovered by the disappearing snow is a huge amount of dog excrement! It doesn’t seem to have the same rate of dissolving as snow does. There was one area along the road where I counted over 50 individual deposits! Apparently my neighbors are less-than-fastidious about cleaning up after their animals, at least in this particular spot. It’s at the edge of a commercial lot, so perhaps few are compelled to scoop there. As for me, I always scoop.

(I recommend these particular dog waste bags. They’re biodegradable and made in Norway).

Of course, with the unsightly garbage and such come some interesting items. First of all, there is money. I found some coins this weekend. Mostly pennies, but I did find a nickel near the bike shop of which I am not exactly fond. A thaw is a great time to find money in the street. I recall a few springs ago when I found almost $1 total in coins picked up around just one neighborhood block. I guess people accidentally drop money and it gets covered in snow. When the snow melts, jackpot!

I also found a random bent fork. As I’ve written before, winter is found metal cutlery season. I don’t know why.

Then there is this random bike part. It looks like a seat post clamp from some department store bike. Someday I’ll need one of these and I’ll be glad I found it in the street.

I also found some Coca-Cola bottle caps. A non-profit with which I am familiar collects the codes that are found underneath the caps. I found about a half dozen, all on the same street.

I also found this bicycle while out on a ride. I saw it on my way out and planned to pick it up on my way home, if it was still there. I know it’s hard to believe, but it was still there 90 minutes later. I guess that no one wanted a girls’ Roadmaster with a bent seat tube. I’ll strip this thing of any usable parts and send the frame off to the recycler.

I also recently found a trio of department store bikes. These are the older ones that I like to find – fully rigid with friction shifting. I’ll tune them up and donate them soon.

Another upside of all this balmy weather is the fact that it’s easier to ride. I was able to get out twice this weekend and it didn’t require too much clothing. I went on my longest ride of 2010 so far (20 miles – not much) and I rode a bike other than my designated winter beater for the first time. Still, I wouldn’t mind a few extra layer of clothing if we at least had some snow to play in.