Eternal Flame (2004)

I see many broken plastic lighters discarded in the street. Here’s a metal one (Zippo?) that I find a few years ago. It’s inscribed with the romantic words “to my eternal flame 2004.”

Every time I see this thing I think of the Bangles song of the same name. If you are of a certain age, that song is probably stuck in your head right now. So here’s a bit of music history for you:

The Bangles - Eternal Flame from Nika Pika on Vimeo.

And while we’re at it, might as well take a moment to read the Bangles article on Wikipedia. Good stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bangles

This weekend, I found a dime, a spoon and some usable zip ties. I also got out for a good 10.5 mile singlespeed road ride. It almost makes up for the fact that we’re expecting a huge rainstorm tomorrow and not snow.

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.

Two cents for 2010

I found a penny last night and another one today. Yes, that’s only $.02, but it does add up. $1.73 of the $75 found in 2009 was in pennies. Most of these were picked up one at a time. I did find 21 pennies together on one fall day but that is pretty rare.

I also found a flattened fork today. I don’t know why, but I love finding discarded metal cutlery. I seem to find most of these pieces in colder weather. There is some kind of winter – throw forks in the street correlation going on.

Additionally, I went out to walk the dogs in the evening New Year’s Day and found that a neighbor had dropped off a free bike for me in my driveway. It is the first free bike of the year, number 129 since I started picking them up in 2006. This one is no doubt the most high-end I have yet obtained. There will be more on this one later.

A few days ago I found this Virgin of Guadalupe pendant. It’s not valuable, but it’s a neat thing to find. It’s roughly the size of a penny and about the same color. I used to collect religious items like statuary, crucifixes and icons, purely for decoration. I was raised protestant, so we didn’t have these kinds of things around. As a child, crucifixes and statuary seemed especially scary to me. The crucifix depicts someone’s death after all, and the veneration shown to statues of the Virgin or other saints imbues them with a sense of the unknown, even to an avowed atheist such as I am now.

This is (and is not) a Bike Blog

With the start of the new year, I am motivated to start a blog. I plan to write about many topics, but I’ll often be commenting about the things I find in the street. As a thrice daily walker of two small dogs, I spend a fair amount of time on my neighborhood’s sidewalks. I also am an avid cyclist. On a bicycle, the individual has the ability to see lots of things that are missed by motorists. It’s also pretty easy to retrieve them or at least investigate more closely. Additionally, I have a 25 mile commute to work each day. Unfortunately, I do drive a car to and from work. I like to vary my routes to and from work so that I see different neighborhoods and roads. While doing these three things, I find things in the street.

I live in a relatively urban area. My town abuts a major city and my street is two block from the city line. We have a mix of retail, dining and residential property. There’s a decent amount of foot traffic which contributes to the quantity and quality of things found.

My time in the streets (whether I’m dog walking, riding my bike or driving) is when I can think about a lot of things. In a sense, my thoughts and ideas are truly the things I find in the street. My desire is that this blog will be a place where I can put these ruminations.

Because I think about bicycles a lot, I will probably end up writing about them. Bikes are great; I like working on them, reading about them and most of all riding them. I also plan to write some book reviews. It’s highly likely that many of the books I’ll review will be about bikes, specifically bike touring.

I have a great family and a satisfying job, but I don’t feel the need to write about that. I’m private about my family and, well, the job pretty much takes care of itself these days (I’ve been at it for 15 years).

I know that I will probably not write about my daily life and associated minutiae. There are plenty of blogs like that and that’s fine (sure, I read them) but I don’t have a desire to write that kind of blog.

What objects do I find?

First of all, bicycles and bicycle equipment. As of this writing, I have acquired 128 free bicycles in just over three years. Many were from the side of the side of the road (trash piles) though others were technically in dumpsters. I am a habitual dumpster diver for bike stuff (I do it several times a week). Additionally, some friends have given bikes to me that they’ve found or do not want or need any more. I fix up many of these bikes and donate them to a local Salvation Army. I keep some for my own use (and for my family). I also give some away to friends. A few are not fixable and they get properly recycled. I am amazed at all of the bike stuff I have been able to get for no cost at all.

The second type of thing I like to find in the street is money. Usually it’s small coins. I’ll pick up every single penny I see. I was curious about how much I would find in a year, so I put all of my 2009 money into a container. I had no idea how much I would net and no plans for the money. My wife came up with the brilliant idea of using it to pay for dinner on New Year’s Eve (mmmmm, Indian food). The total for 2009 ended up being just over $75.00. Not all of it was found on the street; $30 was found in a public park and $10 was found in the parking lot of a bar after my band played a gig there. I am surprised that people drop so much money on the ground.

The third category of things I find in the street is hand-written notes. I keep all of the interesting ones protected in plastic sheets in a binder. It’s really interesting to me to see what people write down. The things written on these pieces of paper were not meant for my eyes, so there’s a little bit of a voyeuristic thrill in finding them. It’s much like the “Found” website and books, though I started keeping these things before I ever heard of “Found.” I’ll scan some to share in this blog.

I pick up every piece of metal cutlery I see discarded in the street. I know it’s kind of gross. I do clean them, but I don’t use them for eating. I keep them in an old coffee can. I have a vague idea that someday I might fashion some kind of wind chime out of my found cutlery. As far as I know, I don’t think I’ve picked up any heroin spoons. How do these knives, forks and spoons end up on the street? Do people take snacks from home for which they need a utensil and then they can’t be bothered to bring the thing back?

I’ll pretty much pick up any random article and take it home. I don’t collect everything I see, but I’m always on the lookout for something interesting. I did have the idea to start collecting gas caps once, but I did not. I have found some interesting random articles and I’ll write about them in the future.

So, welcome to Things Found In The Street. It will be a home to essays about found objects, bicycles, book and other media reviews and commentary. Happy 2010 to the world!