OH , THE PLACES YOU'LL GO

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own.

And you know what you know.

And you are the guy

who'll decide where to go.

I've been doing my daily morning walk now for the past 18 days. Although my feet have only traveled on the streets of Modesto or Selma, my mind has taken me to many more places. As Dr. Seuss said, "You can steer yourself any direction you choose", and that's just what I do. I take off down the street, my steps in beat with the music, and my mind free to travel anywhere I choose.

I've been to foreign countries, I've run large corporations, I've bought & furnished my perfect house, because of course, money is no object, I've been on the cover of magazines, and I've been the perfect size 10 in the latest designer clothes. But then there are things that I see while on my walk that take me out of my dream state and send me crashing back down to earth.

Like the full glass liter bottle of beer, cap still intact, on the sidewalk of an upscale neighborhood, and my mind tells me that's not beer, that has to be some one's idea of a joke. The half eaten bag of Cheetos left on the edge of the lawn of a park and I think, "What was so important that they lost interest in eating?", after all, we are talking Cheetos here. I've gotten really good at finding coins on the streets and sidewalks, no need to question that, as I'm up to 59 cents and I'd say I'm well on my way to making my first dollar. And then you see this:
A pair of tennis shoes high up on the electrical wires. I don't know what caused me to look up, I'm usually looking down for those coins, but for some reason I looked up and saw them, which made my mind start to wonder.........WHY? There are several urban legends out there regarding shoes hanging by the laces from power lines. The ones about gangs marking territory, or the marking of a drug house. The time honored tradition to mark the last day of school. The military theory, when you were getting ready to get out and go back to regular life, you take your combat boots and throw them over a wire.

Or maybe it is just your everyday kid hijinks's like putting dish washing liquid soap in fountains, toilet papering trees, or the time tested phone call asking for Prince Albert in a can. It's either a harmless prank, a time honored tradition or rite of passage, or the end of civilization as we know it. I'll let you decide.