That's up to 40 miles on the Seward, and four miles on the Sterling. I walk every foot of it as early in the spring as I can and sometimes I do it twice, filling more than 300 bags every year.
Sometimes the bags aren't full. Sometimes they get too heavy for me to carry; sometimes I leave them with a large item that won't fit ion the bag, such as tires, lumber, mud flaps off semis, etc.
I seem to be obsessed with it and I love the way the highways looking when they are nice and clean.
Today, it was raining. I was going to stay home but around 2:30, I felt compelled to go clean up litter along the Sterling highway not far from my home. I do only the first four miles and others take care of it from there.
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| Prickly roses at Tern Lake |
So, in the light rain, off I went, knowing full well I was going to get wet. It was sprinkling lightly, but the encroaching clouds were ominous.
I had left off Friday at Mile 40 so I went a quarter mile beyond that and parked. Then, litter bag and grab stick in hand, I started back to the mile post.
Upon reaching it, I crossed the highway and began the route back toward the Mile 41 post and the end of my jaunt. I didn't reach it.
Instead, shortly after I crossed the highway, and was walking behind a guard rail, I spotted something rectangular in the traffic lane next to me. I stepped over the rail and picked up a very expensive iPhone!
On its front was a message:
I continued on until I was opposite where I'd parked my truck, where I crossed back over four lanes of highway and got into my truck. Then, I examined the phone, trying to figure out a way to find the owner's name.
I had no luck. By this time, it was pouring down rain so I drove a few miles to where we haul our household trash, where I loaded my personal garbage into the Dumpsters. We don't have garbage service where I live and have to handle it ourselves.
It was still raining hard so I went home and began a lengthy, and frustrating, attempt to locate the owner.
I posted messages on several Facebook pages, and got loads of advice from friends. I attempted to find the owner through the carrier--Verizon. Blah. Waste of time.
I tried contacting the Verizon shops in Anchorage. To even send a message about finding the phone, I needed to sign into an account (which, of course, I don't have) or enter the cell phone's number (which, of course, I don't have).
As I was fooling around with the phone, following some Internet advice, a message popped up. It was from the owner, trying to locate the phone.
We connected. And 2-1/2 hours after it was lost, the owner knows where the phone is and will pick it up tomorrow.
SO:
Why would I feel compelled to clean up litter on a day I knew was raining?
Why would I go to the exact spot where the phone was lost?
Why would I find it shortly after it landed on the pavement on a very busy traffic day?
I always feel weird when these things happen to me.
As Cap, a friend of mine, frequently says, "To feel good, do good."
Yep, I do.
I LOVE it when weird stuff happens.
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| A Steller's jay fledgling begging an adult for food. |