Shopping Cart #MIM

Highlight from last week’s posts to @300words

There was an unsolved (to me) mystery in front of my library for several years. The library has a very bright Gothic feel to the architecture.  There are several large spinnerets, colonnades, and jagged scaffolding all across the steep roof.  The windows are long and thin with striped bars, and the front entrance has a royal archway with a grand stairway leading into the foyer.  There is another staircase also that leads to a shaded arched balcony with locked doors.  In front of the library is a statue of a beehive—our state symbol—and an American flag raised high on a flag pole.  At the bottom of the beehive statue always rests an overloaded grocery shopping cart.

Naturally the shopping cart belongs to someone, but to whom was never apparent to me.  Every day it sits there, loaded with black plastic sacks, tarps, blankets, and with grocery bags holding empty bottles tied to the side.  Underneath it are milk jugs containing an unknown liquid covered by a rugged striped towel, and on top is a decent back-country backpack filled tight.  Though many people pass, including tidy looking library administrators, no one ever touches it save the pigeons.

Today, the owner revealed himself.  I sat down in the morning sunlight to observe the impressive architecture.  Sitting with my back against a lamp post, I pulled out my sketchbook and scribbled.  At exactly 12:30 I heard the tapping sound of someone approaching on crutches.  A man in baggy pants, a tan hat, sun-glasses, and dark green shoes came stride by stride towards the beehive statue.  Not wanting to spoil the revelation, I kept my head down and continued drawing.  He approached the shopping cart, took some bird seed out of a plastic sack and fed it to a pigeon, then picked up one of the water bottles and drank generously.

Then he left again, unworried that the shopping cart would be stolen. Thinking that he was careless for leaving it unattended, I returned to my drawing.  But when I glanced up at my drawing subject, I saw him staring back at me.  He had climbed up the second stairway to the shaded balcony and was observing me through the stone banister.  I didn’t want to stare or cause trouble, so I continued my drawing, and he continued staring for at least a quarter of an hour.

When I finished my drawing I looked back up to see him, but we was invisible again.  I gathered up my drawing utensils and zipped up my backpack.  I passed by the grocery cart and observed that it must indeed hold everything he owns.  As I walked into the library I passed by the shaded balcony with locked doors.  When I drew near enough I could see him lying on his back, his legs crossed, and a pigeon on his hat, enjoying the cool shade.

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Bryan Beus

w: www.bryanbeus.com

t: @bryanbeus

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Commentary, Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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