And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street

Saturday I was walking to the train carrying a bucket of cleaning supplies with a giant bow on the handle (a housewarming present) and a mesh beach bag filled with little trinkets and blue and silver Chanukah presents (waiting to be wrapped at my destination).

I thought I must look like a freak with the items I was carrying and as if on cue, a woman appeared walking the other direction carrying a trampoline. She was walking with confidence as if it was completely normal for someone to be carrying a trampoline down the bike trail. The man behind her on the other hand was making can-you-believe-it eyes at everyone walking by.

This got me thinking about all the other odd things I have seen people with in this city. When I was walking on the pedestrian overpass by Charles MGH once, a man was riding his "bike" in the opposite direction. The entire frame was covered in fur and on the front of the handle bars where some people might have a flowered basket, he had strapped a pair of long horns.

Walking in Brookline once I saw a guy carrying a little cactus with a bow on the pot. I thought, most guys buy flowers to get out of trouble, I have a bad feeling that this guy's purchase is just going to get him in trouble.

The last terribly notable sight I can recall was when I was walking to the train after work one evening and a woman was carrying a box of items including part of a computer and she had a telephone cord dragging after her. I was imagining the scene that had led up to this. Had she been fired and in the process of cleaning out her desk taken a keyboard, a phone cord and a collection of troll dolls? It just seemed like such odd choices.

This makes me feel a lot better about the wacky things I am always transporting, even if people are thinking I am random as I walk by -- because let's be honest, I am.