Fourth of July Time Warp
It was on the fourth of July. There were multiple counties that border lakes that had firework displays at each of their local parks near the lakefront.
I walked to the park in my county to look at what they have for the event.
On the sidewalk of the major street leading to the park there were lots more people walking and most of the women were in bikinis. Some of the people said there are always fights that happen at this event every year. As I got one street crossing away from the park I could see there was a police car and multiple police officers on guard in case something happens.
The lakefront was on the bottom of a hill with stairs to reach it and the stairs by the gate had a sign saying they were closed today.
There was a lookout spot that could hold many people with bars and rails to keep people from falling off and on the lookout spot was a group of people having brasswind instruments similar to a high school band.
I walked around the lawn on the top of the park and there were lots of people with alcohol cans or bottles in their hands or holding packs of alcohol cans.
I then left to walk away to the north and look at what the next county's park and firework display was doing.
Once I got near there I could hear country Western Music being played from loudspeakers. Again this park also had a hill leading down to the lake and I walked to the area by the hill. The entire hill was blocked with a long strip of orange net material so that there was no way to go down to the lake without interfering with the netting material and probably getting in trouble.
I decided to walk on the start of the netting material on the south end and walk by it all the way to the north end. Near the north end there was what looked like a giant cut down tree stump so wide it was of prehistoric proportions. Instead of being cut low near the bottom of the tree as one might normally due with dead trees it was cut high up higher than I am tall plus the height I could reach my hands. The tree stump might have had a 9 foot wide diameter and been cut at about 9 feet high. It appeared to be cut near the bottom of two different branches that merged off the main trunk at about 9 feet high. It was hard to tell was this a real tree, or a rock formation, or a man made sculpture or a petrified tree except what kind of saw would cut through a petrified tree. It looked like it had artificially smooth surfaces. If it was a man made sculpture it was odd that there was no plaque of dedication explaining who donated money for it or who the artist was.
Somehow there were multiple boys just sitting on top of the tree and one adult man standing by the cut tree stump. I wondered how they could even have gotten up there on top of it although I could see how it might be possible if someone helped put them there but it might not be easy because shoulders get weak as they arm goes above shoulder height. I would imagine the man lifted them only part of the way up high enough to grab the tree with their hands above their own shoulder height and pull themselves up.
I asked the man if he ever remembered that object being there before and he said it was the first time he was ever in the park. I told him I have been to that park many times for years and never remembered that object being there. I could maybe imagine there might have been a tree there because there were many trees in the park but never a giant tree stump cut so high. I then told him goodbye and left.
As I got near the street to leave the park there was an old lady. I said I suppose you are wanting to cross the street also. I left the moment there was a break in car travel although probably not at a normal location to cross but traffic was unusual and I wanted to walk the moment there was a break rather than finding the correct place to cross as I usually would. She followed me.
I then started walking North to the next park by a lake front in the next county I knew of. I noticed she was following me. I told her I was going that way pointing north to the next park to see if they have a fireworks display there and she said she was walking north also.
I told her how the previous park South of the one we were at had a music band that looked like a high school music band and she asked if they were playing swing music. I told her I did not know but they looked like the type of instruments in a high school band such as brasswind instruments.
I explained that most people would look up if the events occur on a smartphone to see if there were fireworks at the next park but I do not know if they will actually be there because I do not choose to use a smartphone since I think people who depend on smart phones tend to become more stupid. I explained I am only guessing there might be fireworks at the next park based on a pattern but can not be sure they will be there without looking it up on the internet where I live which I suppose I could have done before leaving but did not bother to do.
She told me she did not know what a smartphone is and does not have the internet where she lives. I told her it was a type of cell phone that has the internet and is like a computer. She told me she doesn't know what a cell phone is. I showed her my old fashioned flip phone with the numbers to dial. She asked if you can get one of those in stores. I told her you can buy them at the mall. She asked at what store you can buy them at the mall. I mentioned the specific brand name store but told her there are also many other stores where you can buy them.
Now in the conversation she told me she was part of a marching band and that she came from the same community I did to the south even living near the same street I said I live near. Even though she came from another community she was at this location because she started out somewhere else with the marching band and it went through several locations and ended at the last park I was at. I asked her why she is walking to the North if her community is from the South and she said she is just walking this way for exercise.
I told her the park I was going to would involve more than a five mile walk. Although technically it might have been less than five miles away I figured once you walk back it might end up being five miles and it is better to overestimate it then underestimate it if you are preventing someone from walking too far and getting in a bad situation they can not handle well. She then said she would turn around then. Apparently I would guess she just decided she would follow me whatever direction I was going for exercise. I never told her to go to the park with me or to follow me but she said she was going the same direction I pointed saying I was going.
As she turned around and went the other direction I looked to make sure she was walking toward people and fortunately there were other people walking north a visible distance away that were south of me which she would have had to walk by.
I wonder if she had heat stroke and did not know what was going on or had some sort of cognitive disability or if she was from another time period like in the twilight zone or zone where normal things do not happen not to know what a cell phone is, this might also explain the prehistoric petrified tree out of place in time.
I am hoping whoever she ran into would help her if she got in some trouble but was glad not to be around that person and in trouble if she got heat stroke or got into some sort of trouble while I was there far away from other people that could help her and that would be eyewitnesses if she suddenly passed out or started acting crazy. I suppose looking back I should have asked her if she was feeling dehydrated but her clothes looked dry although that would not necessarily mean she was not dehydrated especially if her sweat evaporated in the heat or she did not drink enough water to sweat.
When I finally got to the third park there was a group of Asian people talking in some tonal Asian language late at night after sunset but no group of anyone else. I asked them if there were fireworks there and they said no. I thought I could go down the hill to look but figured I might slip and fall in the dark. Seeing no other people and no large crowd I figured there probably was no firework display at that park and those people were simply breaking park curfew. Normally I would not be in parks after hours but I figured if they have an after hours display at the park they make an exception to the curfew rules for that day. Since I guessed there was no display I left so as not to be hassled by police for staying up late in the park after hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment