Talking Trash

Captain’s Log, Stardate 20120424. iPhone and I went for another walk today. We headed out to Lincoln Park, per our norm. One thing I haven’t been able to figure out is why there is a statue of Benjamin Franklin in Lincoln Park.

Well, that’s something to ponder when I have nothing else to do. Meanwhile, iPhone and I headed east towards the lake… and that’s when we realized that we were being followed. It’s true. Here’s the evidence.

No, not the woman with the stroller, though she’s obviously suspicious. I’m talking about the garbage cans. Notice how they’re just standing there like nothing is happening. Fortunately, iPhone is very good at sniffing out criminals. We hurried on past these two evil cans only to run into them again.

In an effort to throw us off, they switched sides. Bluey is now on the left. iPhone put his own life in danger to get this shot. He got a little too close for my own comfort, but thankfully, we got past these two without injury.

But these cans are quick. We had no more gotten around the curve when, BAM, there they were again!

Look at them! Pretending they’re watching the softball game. Only there isn’t a game going on! They’re getting sneaky. But not sneaky enough. If you look closely, you’ll see that they broke the fence to get into the field. iPhone tried to lift some prints, but the lock was clean.

It wasn’t until we got to this stretch of the walk that we realized there was more than two of them. Right there at the end of the fence is team one. Then if you look at the batting cage, yup, there’s team two. iPhone suggested that we keep our distance and pick up the pace.

We’d just gotten past the fence duo when iPhone pointed to the pair just standing there in the open field. They’re dead center in the photo. Apparently we caught them as they were trying to get ahead of us.

And here’s another two-for. These things are multiplying like rabbits. Again at the batting cage, then along the path to the north. That one appears to be solo. It’s probably stalking someone else.

Well, I was tired of trying to outdistance these guys, so iPhone and I decided to cross the bridge and walk along the beach. The nicely bull-dozed sand was rather relaxing.

Just as I was starting to relax, iPhone turns and shouts. Yep, we were followed – over the bridge!

Immediately we headed south. The garbage cans can blend more in the park, but on a beach? They stand out like sore thumbs. We thought we’d be safer, but  wouldn’t you know it? We found this one soloing it in a parking lot. We kept a wide berth and headed to the lake.

Still being followed. I tell ya, you just want a relaxing walk and you’re stalked by garbage cans. Is this a crazy world or what?

We headed due south again and finally made it to a safe spot. I was a little worried about that pole, but decided it was harmless.

Off there in the distance you can barely make out Navy Pier. I really need to find out if iPhone has a zoom. This actually looks farther away than it actually is.

Here’s a cool shot. Notice the water on the horizon is a deeper blue than the greenish water near us. I will have to investigate this further.

iPhone and I decided to take a seat and rest from our harrowing adventure. My toes were getting weary. Even my Vibram Five Finger shoes were tired.

While sitting there, enjoying the splish-splash of the water, I snapped this shot. And no, I wasn’t crooked; the city has already started sinking into the sand.

You got the Hancock, Water Tower Place, Trump Tower, and the Sears Tower… yes, Sears Tower, not the Willis Tower. I also think Kent lives in one of those smaller buildings on the right. Unless the garbage cans got him on his way home.

After a few minutes of rest, iPhone and I headed back home. We were too tired to worry about the garbage cans, but there were fewer of them on the path we took back to my building. But as we were on our last leg of the adventure, these two jumped out and tried to block our path.

iPhone growled, kicked them and we continued onward.

Stupid garbage cans.
—

All photos were taken by me, Letricia Brooks. Feel free to use them for whatever you want. Attribution or a link back to my site would be nice, but not required.