It was hard to tell difference between the water and the air last week; I came out of both feeling soggy and on the wrong side of refreshed. Wading through the river for a castaway water bottle was much the same as channeling through the weeds for an emptied bag of chips. But there was some pleasure in filling two bags of garbage to overflowing. I take my overblown feelings of success where I can find them.
Although what I found was not so peculiar — abandoned campfires, lost fishing gear, and discarded food and drink containers — the details were just off enough to entertain me every now and then. For instance, this situation:
Beside this:
My thought? Only the most refined revelers on the Monocacy drink Earl Grey tea while melting synthetic fabric over an open fire. Do you think that Bigelow might like that for an ad campaign? Or a bit of co-branding with the DNR? We could always include 3M as well because of the Post-It Notes. Were these partiers writing scraps of poetry and submitting them to the flames as offerings to the Muses? I can only imagine. Leaving the lighter in the fire is such a nice touch.
Apparently I’m feeling a little snarky. Maybe I’m still just a little sore about being fooled by this lure I found under the water nearby:
I thought at first that I was seeing a cool larva of some sort. It didn’t take me long to realize my mistake, but it wasn’t until I pulled it up that I realized what it was supposed to be.
A crayfish? I can still barely see it. I guess the fish didn’t buy it either.
It’s hard to think clearly when it’s hot out.
TRASH ON THE MONOCACY 
It’s like archaeology without the digging, and trying to figure out the culture from the found artefacts is just as puzzling although without the distance of time. I should think that even when its not hot and humid, your discoveries would be just as baffling!
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That’s true. Finding objects without written or oral explanation requires the same study, no matter how (not so) recently left behind. I always feel as if I’ve ventured far from my archaeology background, but I suppose my curiosity and questions haven’t really much changed!
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I’d forgotten you mentioning before your background in archaeology. Evidently it runs deep!
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Oh dear. Hot days replete with other people’s trash. That would make anyone snarky. But I too am fascinated by the Earl Grey tea and Post-It notes.
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Anything I find that isn’t some variant of Bud Light, snack wrappers, and fishing line is very, very peculiar these days!
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I have a lure exactly like that. The smallmouth bass love it! 🙂
I had an experience this weekend similar to what you do every day – a favorite wilderness area marred by trash. It really upset me. I don’t know how you continue to do it – but I’m very glad you do.
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I guess we must have some smallmouth bass fishermen (and women, I’m guessing). I see lots of little ones.
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