I went for a walk this morning, like I’ll often do on the mornings when I don’t work the night before.  However, inspired by a number of posts I’ve seen in the blogosphere detailing “Ten Things I Noticed Today”, I brought along my camera and made a point to shoot some of the more mundane things I passed by on my mile or so long stroll.  I came up with more than ten (thirteen, fittingly!), and here they are for your enjoyment!

#1: Dump The Dish!

“It’s OFF!” Take that Deion, Eli, and Peyton!

Had to giggle at this, someone uninstalled their old DirecTV dish and had it sitting out by the curb for the junk people!  Reminds me of the commercials during the heyday of the cable vs. dish wars…

#2: Mr. Fox

Cheerio, ol’ chap!

I pass this little guy every time I take my walk, so I’ve always noticed him.  How can you not, it’s adorable.  There was once a time when foxes ruled the roost in my drawings… uh oh, could it be another future species-related blog post!  Stay tuned….

#3: The Leaning Pole of GC

Lean back, lean back…

This is no optical illusion, that pole really does look like it’s about to snap in the middle at any time and fall over, like it had been out in a hurricane too long.  I first noticed this pole a couple months ago, and as stunned as I was to see what looked like a very unsafe light pole, I was even more shocked when I began realizing that MOST of the light poles in this neighborhood were just like this one, including the one that’s right outside my house!  I don’t know what the story is behind the apparent bend in these poles, but it looks like something I sure wouldn’t want to stand under for too long…

#4: Squirrel Bird Bath

The birds own nothing… nothing!

When I walk down to the mailbox, I walk on the other side of the street and pass this by all the time.  But since I was just out for a casual stroll, you’ll have to settle for this view from across the street.  Love this birdbath, which features three ornamental squirrels.

#5: Fields of Ick

The bellybutton lint of the bread basket..

This field is not too far from my home, and the bike trail I sometimes walk down borders it for half a mile.  I don’t know enough about crops to know what’s being grown here, but thanks to the oppressive heat and drought we had this summer, it all came up brown and yellow.  Had it not been for all the rain we’ve gotten since the remnants of Isaac came through 2 weeks ago, you’d still be able to see the big-ass cracks in the soil as well.

#6: Crosswalk Stoplight

Walk this way

Sorry, but I find crosswalk stoplights to be a waste of money and electricity.  You can site all the studies you want about how they may save tens of lives a year across the country, and I still won’t buy it.  What really sucks about this one too is that sometimes it goes on the fritz, and when it’s out of service, it flashes red!  What the hell?  Most motorists (raising hand) ignore it when it goes into constant flashing red mode…

#7: Spaghetti Dinner

SKETTI!!!

I’ll bet that was good last Saturday, got any left over?

#8: Speed Limit

Sammy Haggar would go nuts on this road!

Nothing really spectacular about a speed limit sign, unless you are aware of the fact that it used to only be 25 mph during my childhood.  This road was one of the more frustrating speed traps in the city until someone finally had the sense to raise the speed limit to something more reasonable for a main residential artery.

#9: Coroner Sign

I’ll only vote for him if he’s running on the Munchkin ticket!

A reminder that election season is upon us.  And while the nation debates on Obama and Romney, let us not forget the truly important races, like the one for county coroner.  If I’m ever in need of a coroner, I’m probably not going to care which party he is affiliated with….

#10: Tornado Siren

TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!!!

About a decade ago, our fine city installed a new warning system that allows for voice messages to scream to us when we are in imminent danger.  The caption is a frequent running joke between me and one of my sisters, as the sirens will screech that phrase often and direly when they are going off…. usually when a tornado warning has been issued for our entire county even though the storm has already passed by here.  I blame the coroner…

#11: Ruling the Roost

It’s the Godpigeon!!!

I wasn’t totally sure if this was a bird or a squirrel roosting on this street light until I got close enough to take the picture.  And I just now noticed the second bird on top of the pole itself!  Maybe this is why all of our street light poles appear to be falling down…

#12: Uneasy Rider

The joy of the open road…. at 35 miles per hour.

I didn’t just take a picture of a random biker passing by… amazingly on a walk in which I forced myself to notice the mundane things I passed by, a rather interesting one happened!  I noticed this guy and his bike in a driveway ahead of me, and I thought he was just standing there by his bike waiting to take off.  Turns out, he was preparing to leave and lost the bike and it fell over onto the bumper of his pickup truck, and he was desperately trying to keep it from falling all the way over.  Me and a neighbor from across the street helped him pick it back up, and I snapped this picture of him as he got on his way.

#13: Halloween!

Just 47 more shopping days until All Hallows Eve!

This is why we sell holiday decorations so early in the season…. there are a lot of people out there who love decorating their yard and will take advantage of the extended seasons to show off their creativity as soon as they can.  Trick or treat!