Yawn.

Since it’s daytime, I’m walking east. Towards DC’s other river. I start down the Anacostia River Trail (pdf). It’s an actual pleasant sunny day, with only a little wind. It’s bright out and sunglasses are mandatory.

I’m a little startled as I get down to the first sitting/resting area just past RFK Stadium. There I find, strewn about, a wet shirt, wet boxer shorts, wet socks and a pair of wet sneakers. It’s as if someone has swam across the half-frozen river, stripped naked and split the scene. There’s also an odd-colored pool of liquid dripping from the sitting bench onto the concrete pathway that could be blood but could also be a spilt Gatorade. Then this really happened: Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” queues up in the Pandora station I’m listening to, and not wanting to find a half-submerged corpse I get the fuck out of there. I don’t take any pictures to record my findings for fear that they will become Case Exhibit A and I’ll be drawn into some legal case that I’d rather not know about.

Further down the path I find huge concrete thingamajigs that are built in the river. They are very monolithic, very socialist, very cold and alone. They have stairs and handrails and balconies but yet there is no way to reach them. They’re probably some effort of the  Army Corp of Engineers circa 1952 that had its funding cut.

I only pass one person on this trail, a man who appears out of the bushes opposite Congressional Cemetery. We eye each other as we pass on opposite sides of the road that runs alongside the path. We both continue to turn around and check each other, making sure the other is continuing on their way and not following.

Coming upon Barney Circle the new trail disappears, and even though it’s daylight I’m a little nervous about walking through the streets and alleys that now continue along the freeway (which dead-ends at BC) and decide to turn around.

From there it’s a quick walk up Pennsylvania Ave and then cut back through the neighborhood home. But since I’m passing the Safeway I figure I might as well stop in and see what’s on sale. This is obvy a munchie-run: bananas, turkey bacon, baby carrots, hummus, sliced peaches, etc.

Purchase: $21.37
Balance: $66.57
Club Card Savings: $5.22 (20% of purchase)