Road Waste

There is a tangled ball of video tape out of its cover on the side of the road as you enter IH 35 from the Ben White flyover to the north. I notice it every morning. I always notice loose cassette tape strewn from grassy knoll to grassy knoll or amongst pebbles on the curb. I always think - why would anyone throw a tape of anything out the window?

Anytime I see balls of media tape wadded up, I always wonder what was saved on the tape. Is it lost forever? Was it some one's solo performance?

When the boys went off to Vietnam in the 1960's, families used to tape their voices on reel to reel recorders to send overseas. Reel to reel recorders involved handling the tape, threading it through the mechanics and securing it in the opposite side. I guess that's why I am tempted to handle the discarded media and try and figure out what is on them. It is not an unfamiliar idea.

I guess I do the same with seeing a solitary couch cushion in the middle of the road. I wonder how far the owner got down the road before they noticed. Do they have to go to an upholstery shop and have one custom made to match the others?

Road waste has always bothered me. It started when we took a trip to our cousin's wedding back in '63. Our father gave us many warnings before we got in our seat. Most of them have faded in my memory except the one about litter.

I still wonder what is on that tape and I also wonder if I am going to start seeing DVDs on the side of the road as we move into the future.