On the Road – Abandoned Pants, Political Incorrectness, Ron’s Bubbles and More
December 12, 2020
Highlight and lowlights from yesterday’s two-wheeled adventure to and from Welland:
1. Spotted along the trail in the wee hours of the morning was a pedestrian carrying a light. It’s not the first time I’ve seen such a thing here and it’s nice to see people taking their own safety seriously. Unlike the case in a certain other part of the world, where joggers eschew dedicated paths to illegally run on busy roadways at all hours of the day and night for the sole purpose of being noticed, then complain bitterly when they are inevitably hit.
2. Also spotted along the trail early in the morning was a cyclist heading in the opposite direction who was wearing an industrial-grade gas mask. If your tolerance level for airborne toxins is that low, you really should be in an isolation ward.
3. I really don’t care who the trail was funded by. Who’s funding it now?
3a. Answering my own question, it’s the taxpayers, not the City of Thorold, the Niagara Region or any other government. So many people just don’t understand that government has no money of its own. Every cent of its wealth comes from what it forcibly lifts from taxpayers’ wallets.
3b. Is that sign for the railway crossing really necessary?
4. Just before getting to the Main Street Bridge, I spotted this dude face-down. At first, I thought he was working on his bike. I even thought about stopping to offer my help. But then I saw he wasn’t moving. No doubt he ingested or snorted a little too much of something that didn’t agree with him. Something like photocopier fluid or Lysol.
5. “MERRY CHRISTMAS” was flashing on the signs of each Welland Transit bus I spotted. I didn’t think such things were allowed anymore.
6. I know the real-estate market here in St. Catharines has been booming, but you know things are really out of whack when homeowners in downtown Welland start getting solicitations from house flippers, as I noticed during my travels.
7. Nothing quite screams “Welland” like this scene on Hellems Avenue near the transit terminal:
8. Were the pants the wrong size? Whatever the case, Walmart will take them back. Honest.
9. Before leaving Welland, I made a point to see if the bubbles in the recreational canal, clearly visible from the bridge on Woodlawn Road, were still there. And to my surprise, they weren’t.
Months earlier, while on Merritt Island, I ran into a retired farmer named Ron, who pointed me to them, explaining how the tiny bubbles at that one spot and only that spot had been there for the longest time. I certainly agreed with his assertion that it was from a pipeline and not some natural phenomenon. Yet when he reported it to the city, rather than contact the appropriate agencies themselves, they threw it back at him, leaving him, as the responsible citizen who was good enough to bring it to their attention, to make the rounds with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, Enbridge and others.
Whatever the case, it was good to see that his persistence paid off.
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