Side of the Road

  Ok so since I have a commute to and from work (about 37 miles) I spend nearly an hour each way in traffic on the freeway. (To me the back roads take just as much time if not longer so I just prefer to keep it simple and be able to drive faster) So I have noticed things sometimes while I am driving on the side of the road. Or more often in the center divider. For about 2 weeks straight I saw a "Sam's Cola" 2 liter bottle, or maybe it was the "Shasta" 3 liter. Either way it was there in the center and I would see it and think " I am surprised that didn't burst when it landed on the freeway", or how did it manage a "soft" fall so that it didn't burst?  I wondered how it got there? Did it fly out of the bed of a truck? It is fairly "heavy" so you would think it wouldn't fly out. But how would it fall out of a closed vehicle? Or since this was before June gloom came around I would think " I can't believe it's not popping with this heat" Anyway eventually the bottle disappeared. 


Than in another spot on the freeway one day I noticed a flattened basketball. At first from a distance I could tell something was in the road but it was oddly shaped and kind of dark in color and I didn't know what it was! Than (it was super heavy traffic that day) as luck would have it I was traveling slow enough to see it and identify it. I could even see it had black marks across it like it was dragged across the pavement or was ran over when it popped or something. But the weird thing about the b-ball was that there was a dead bird (actually looked like a duck) next to it. So was this a murder-suicide? Did the bird get hit playing b-ball on the side of the freeway? Did one "die" before the other? It was completely random. I mean first off why would there be a duck near the freeway to begin with. Same as the soda bottle did the ball fly out of someone's truck or car? It was random and again it was there for several days. Not as long as the soda but for close to a week at least! The other random thing about it is, not just how does it get there and why, but how does it get removed? 


I frequently see clothes. I guess there is some randomness to that, but it is more common so it doesn't surprise me. But the thing with clothes is I wonder if they came off someone who was in an accident at that spot and left behind by the EMS personnel? Or I think about whose clothes they were, and are they missing that item of clothing now? Are they wondering what happened to their favorite _______? Or lately with a different route I take so that I can go to Aqua Aerobics after work on Tues/Thurs nights I have seen a pair of shoes/boots. Those make me think of the homeless people I constantly see in Ventura. I think, if a homeless person were to walk down that particular area they could get some free shoes. But either they don't feel the same way or they are not walking by that spot.


Well I don't know if anyone else puts as much thought into random items on the side of the road as I do. In fact some people are not even as observant as me. I sometimes wonder if my being observant will someday be a benefit to someone? What if someday I notice something that would solve a crime, or maybe (hopefully not) I will find a body or a baby (again hopefully not) but it could happen. I always get nervous when I notice a dark bag on the side of the road. But I am the kind of person that if I ever see anything suspicious I do call the local police dept, 911 or the Highway patrol.  I have called them in the past too and I will continue to do so! Anyway sorry this post is so random, maybe it makes you think I am weird or gross or something but it's just another insight as to who I am. I am observant and I like to think, so sometimes things I observe will give me a random thought process!