The Trojans are here, but not in a Wooden Horse.

June 18th, 2018 – Safeway Route.

It was a warm morning walk today.  Traffic was light, and the Trash was average.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and a bus driver, and a wave from MM Mechanical.  Also, lots of drive-by waves and thumbs up.

This was a bad day for crows.

We came across two separate crows on the sidewalk, one wrapped in a diaper.  We made sure no other crows were around to observe, then moved them off into the bushes.  We didn’t want to be blamed for their demise.

We found the kid brother of the big wine bottles we find on Riverside Drive.

One-third of the big wine bottle.

Get Closer.  I mean, how much closer can you get?

Discarded Marilyn lighter.

Some Like it Hot.  Is Marilyn in the public domain now?

 

June 19th, 2018 – Park and Ride Route.

Another warm morning with light traffic and light trash.  We got honks from Mr. Handyman and a brown minivan driver who is becoming a regular but has not been inducted.

I was picking up some cardboard on the traffic island near the freeway and got a “thank-you for your service” from a driver stopped at a light.

We flung a small bird and two rabbits.

Janet is perfecting a side-arm fling which can be seen here.  We came upon a plastic bag tied to a road sign post and a jar of unlabeled peanut butter.

We have no idea.  We have some serial McLitterers on our walk.

We’ve found these bags several times now and they always have the same contents.  Two plastic platters, two cups with lids, two used tea bags and a bunch of unused condiments including butter, syrup, salt and pepper.  Time for a wildlife camera?

 

June 20th, 2018 – Safeway Route.

This was a very warm walk for us beginning at 62F and rising. We prefer temperatures in the range of the low 40s to the mid-50s.  We got a wave from Mr. Handyman, our regular, but are seeing many more random waves and thumbs up.  We have two regular bus drivers, one who honks and waves and the other who points at us.  We don’t know what he is thinking.  We also saw an irregular Costco business delivery truck who gives us a thumbs up.

We flung a very flat squirrel and a very extended (don’t ask) rat.  One of the rabbits we flung yesterday was back on the side of the road.  We reflung it, hopefully a varmint drug it up instead of flinging it back. Flinging wars are ugly.

Along the way, we found the wrappings of a new bike lock and about a block later, an old one.

Both went into the recycle.

WaMu Monopoly Money, Seattle Edition??  Not much good since 2009 and not much good for our Monopoly nest egg.

There is a blind intersection due to bushes on our walk, but I am careful to listen for oncoming cars.  I heard this lady’s car and stepped to the left.

She was making a right turn, looking away from me.  The she suddenly saw me and slammed on her breaks.  I smiled and waved her on.  She will probably be more careful in the future.  We have all had these moments.

Bicycle glasses.

I hope the rider fared better.

 

June 21st, 2018 – Park and Ride Route.

Today was slightly cooler and overcast.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and a few waves.  Janet reflung a squirrel she side-armed a few days ago.  Something dragged it back onto the road.

 

 

This is the same gulley we cleaned last week.  There are two new cigarette-filled Gatorade bottles.

 

June 22nd, 2018 – Safeway Route.

It was a pleasant overcast morning and the Friday traffic was very light.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and a bus driver.  We got a nice “Thank You” from a man in a car near Safeway.  We flung a rabbit and a snake-in-the-grass.

We found this,

and about a block later, this.

Talk about a quickie.  Does this count as distracted driving?  Then, later on the walk,

Summer is here.  We found another socket to add to my growing “found” tool set.

Finally, we saw this at a bus stop.

A person reading a REAL book!

 

June 23rd, 2018 – Riverside Drive.

Today was another cool, overcast day.  Compared to last Saturday, today was a walk in the… well, road.  We picked up a normal amount of trash for a Saturday, arriving home with two bags of garbage and three bags of recycle.  We did discard three bags of garbage and several bottles in receptacles along the way.

As we passed the Village Sty Apartments (our name) there were very few cigarette butts where there are normally 30 or so.  Hopefully this is the start of a new era.

On the other hand, at the other bad apartment spot, we picked up over 80 cigarette butts within about 30 feet.  They had accumulated in one week.  We may put a can there to see if whoever is doing it will dispose of them properly.

We flung a small bird and a rabbit along the way.  We also cut up a 3-foot cubic cardboard box and deposited it in a recycle can.

We saw relatively few waves from passersby.  One theory is the grey skies impact people’s mood.  Or maybe we just can’t see the people wave because of the bright-grey sky reflecting from the windshields.

Just before the place we find the big wine bottles, I went down a hill to retrieve a beer can very close to a Sammamish River access road.  So, I stayed on the road picking up lots of trash while Janet continued along the main road.  When the roads converged, Janet said she could not find any wine bottles.  On the way back, I crossed the road and found one.

Our Saturday walk would not be complete without one of these.

I had an early blow-out.

Both Janet and I carry an extra glove for situations like this.  I spent a good three minutes trying to get the glove on my sweaty hand, and even then, I continued with long, webbed fingers.  Doing some research, I will use some talcum powder on our backup gloves.

Time for a moment of reflection.

This is the third car mirror (our remnants thereof) we’ve found along this stretch of Riverside Drive.  We don’t see any reason why this is a bad spot for mirrors.  Just bad luck, I guess.

Garage sales at a trailer park?

We found a partially-inflated “Happy Birthday” balloon across a muddy ditch.

Normally I would use my box cutter to deflate it, but I had the bright idea of jumping on it.  The first time, it didn’t burst, and I almost lost my balance.  That didn’t deter me.  I jumped a second time and it made a pretty good “Pop!”  You can be a kid when you get older, it just takes longer to recover when you hurt yourself.

According to Wikipedia, “A lei can be given to someone for a variety of reasons. Most commonly, these reasons include peace, love, honor, or friendship…”  Or litter, I guess.