It was February 1st today in New York, so naturally the weather high was 62 degrees. People were walking around in t-shirts and shorts in some cases, while I kept my ear open in case Mister Softee decided to make a surprise winter appearance. A day like this couldn't go to waste, so I took my bike out for a ride and went to one of my usual destinations the bike path takes me, and that's Ferry Point Park.
There's an area in the park, as mentioned in my November 29th blog of 2011 "Under a Bridge as They Say", which overlooks the Long Island Sound and provides views of the Manhattan skyline as well as LaGuardia Airport. What was different this particular day that I never saw before at this location was that the tide was very low, hence a large amount of the beach head was exposed, and items that were underwater recently would now show up on the surface. There is always the air of mystery when it comes to stuff that washes up on shore, and in the back of my mind I was daydreaming I might find an old treasure chest, or at least something cool like a dead body that got dumped. I took my bike and walked it down closer to the shoreline so I could start my treasure hunt. The sand looked a little wet, but firm, so I put my foot down and had it sink a half inch into slushy goo. With my shoes half-sinking into mud there was a small part of me saying this was a bad idea, but with a fortune to be had, I carried on.
The first priceless item I encountered seemed to be a dead skunk, then I looked at it again and thought maybe it was a dead house cat. Turns out it was a soggy black teddy bear with a white line down its back, alla a skunk's. There were certainly tires available, from Goodyear to Michelin, and about type of ball available such as baseballs, golf balls, softballs, tennis balls, paddleballs, but the water must have been out of basketballs, footballs, and bowling balls. For a split second I did think there might've been something of real value when I saw something that closely resembled an iPad. It would have been worthless anyways as the water would have totally ruined it, but I still went up to it to have a closer look. I stepped on it and heard a piece of fragile glass crack, then after removing some of the sand on top only then did I find out it was a simple picture frame. Every five minutes there were planes roaring above me as they made their final descent into LaGuardia Airport. It was a windy day, and sometimes it looks like the planes were coming in diagonally to offshoot the strong winds.
Something that did strike me odd was that there were these yellow and red sheets all over the place. In fact, one got caught up in a tree branch and it looked like a yellow flag waiving. When I saw the first one, I thought it was one of those veils or sheets that Hindu women wrap themselves up in, but with out thirty of them spread out all over the beach, it couldn't have been that unless a whole case found it way into the water somehow. The more I looked around the more I began to come to the reality that I wasn't going to find anything of any great value, but when I set my eyes onto a fifty-gallon drum, I thought maybe at least I would get my dead body. Excited, I took a peek inside to see what it contain, but excitement faded away as there was nothing but some old dried up weeds. With my shoes rather muddy and my feet starting to feel wet, I had to get back up onto dry land again. I found myself a seat on a bench and took in the nice-weathered day and gave my shoes some time to dry, although the low-tide smell was still present on them. The winds were kicking up pretty hard off the water, and when I heard a flapping noise I turned around to see the source of that sound and saw this large black garbage bag doing a dance. This bag was getting hit so hard by the wind it took up a life of its own and gave me a free show.
At least I know where to go next time I need to replace one of my car's tires...
There's an area in the park, as mentioned in my November 29th blog of 2011 "Under a Bridge as They Say", which overlooks the Long Island Sound and provides views of the Manhattan skyline as well as LaGuardia Airport. What was different this particular day that I never saw before at this location was that the tide was very low, hence a large amount of the beach head was exposed, and items that were underwater recently would now show up on the surface. There is always the air of mystery when it comes to stuff that washes up on shore, and in the back of my mind I was daydreaming I might find an old treasure chest, or at least something cool like a dead body that got dumped. I took my bike and walked it down closer to the shoreline so I could start my treasure hunt. The sand looked a little wet, but firm, so I put my foot down and had it sink a half inch into slushy goo. With my shoes half-sinking into mud there was a small part of me saying this was a bad idea, but with a fortune to be had, I carried on.
The first priceless item I encountered seemed to be a dead skunk, then I looked at it again and thought maybe it was a dead house cat. Turns out it was a soggy black teddy bear with a white line down its back, alla a skunk's. There were certainly tires available, from Goodyear to Michelin, and about type of ball available such as baseballs, golf balls, softballs, tennis balls, paddleballs, but the water must have been out of basketballs, footballs, and bowling balls. For a split second I did think there might've been something of real value when I saw something that closely resembled an iPad. It would have been worthless anyways as the water would have totally ruined it, but I still went up to it to have a closer look. I stepped on it and heard a piece of fragile glass crack, then after removing some of the sand on top only then did I find out it was a simple picture frame. Every five minutes there were planes roaring above me as they made their final descent into LaGuardia Airport. It was a windy day, and sometimes it looks like the planes were coming in diagonally to offshoot the strong winds.
Something that did strike me odd was that there were these yellow and red sheets all over the place. In fact, one got caught up in a tree branch and it looked like a yellow flag waiving. When I saw the first one, I thought it was one of those veils or sheets that Hindu women wrap themselves up in, but with out thirty of them spread out all over the beach, it couldn't have been that unless a whole case found it way into the water somehow. The more I looked around the more I began to come to the reality that I wasn't going to find anything of any great value, but when I set my eyes onto a fifty-gallon drum, I thought maybe at least I would get my dead body. Excited, I took a peek inside to see what it contain, but excitement faded away as there was nothing but some old dried up weeds. With my shoes rather muddy and my feet starting to feel wet, I had to get back up onto dry land again. I found myself a seat on a bench and took in the nice-weathered day and gave my shoes some time to dry, although the low-tide smell was still present on them. The winds were kicking up pretty hard off the water, and when I heard a flapping noise I turned around to see the source of that sound and saw this large black garbage bag doing a dance. This bag was getting hit so hard by the wind it took up a life of its own and gave me a free show.
At least I know where to go next time I need to replace one of my car's tires...
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