Neighborhood Oddments: A Little Dog, a Bike, Mattresses and a Chair

Little dog likes to ride

Bike stuck in tree

Mattresses stuffed behind drainpipe

Weathered chair in alley

I was just driving slowly through the neighborhood over the past coupla months and saw some interesting things that caught my eye.  For instance, this little dog was quite happy to be in the front seat looking out as the car drove down the street.  Then there's this bicycle piece caught up in a tree,  perhaps it thought it was a plant or something.  Then, what about those mattresses tucked  neatly behind a water drainpipe? Who put them there? Are they serving some purpose like buffering some noise or stopping cars get scratched or something? And I nearly picked up this ole weathered chair a few times, with some idea to paint it but then decided to just leave it there, as it really did look good, all grey against the red fence wood.  I just never know what surprises might be in store for me when I drive through my neighborhood.

Man-Made Birds' Nests

I stumbled past this tree filled with man-made bird's nests in the 1700 block of First Street NW recently. I was quite taken aback by the creativity! They seem to made of bits of old wood, guttering, wire and nails and painted crazy patchwork style. I stood a while snapping away and then saw a little bird climbing out and up its "chimney"! I think it might have been one of those little chickadees you see around here. I know it wasn't a sparrow as I'm sure they only make their own homes of twigs.  Awesome! There were at least half of dozen of these and I think most of them were in use.  They look like places that it would be hard for cats or squirrels to get into.  I just love it when people find new uses for discarded or leftover things and put them into creative re-use.  It's just so inspiring! Now about those bits of ole wood piled up in my basement....and those half-used cans of paint...

Those Guys in Orange on First Street NW

Wandered down First Street NW today to go vote in the DC general election and found myself focusing my camera on the guys in orange working on the water tunnel projects.  I was fascinated by all the equipment they were operating and how much of the road they had dug up. These guys are doing some dangerous-looking work so I asked a friendly supervisor worker how things were going. I heard that they were pretty much on schedule and so far none of the workers have been hurt. I asked about what I was seeing and it turned out they were digging out dirty old gas pipes. I then talked to another project guy working on Adams St NW and he mentioned that he'd been with the company that dug some of the tunnels for the Metro system and he'd worked on tunnels all over the U.S.  So, I'm thinking the workers on this project are experienced and seem to be doing a good job and we should be friendly and say "hi" when we can despite our feelings about the dirt, dust, noise, drillings, the road closures and detours.