Not Quite Pristine

Life in a rural village is not without its quirks.

A nearby gurgling stream is spanned by a short concrete bridge. The valley is already windy, but from time to time during a big blow a large tree branch ends up in the water and gets stuck in the bridge supports. The glut of heavy rain swells the stream, and the water, having no place to go, floods the bridge and also backs up into the adjacent field.

After the rain abates, the stream settles to its usual level, and eventually someone hoists out the log. Other detritus appears now and again, and I'm used to seeing the odd piece of rubbish in the water (and once a whole dead fish that sure as heck didn't swim upstream from the ocean), but I was surprised to find an entire bicycle submerged just past the bridge, with a single handle jutting from the water like a mechanical cry for help.

Too big to float through the supports, the bike couldn't have come from upstream, which means it was either dumped or accidentally dropped by some kid and forgotten. It's been in the water for more than a week; I vote dumped.

I'm waiting to see how long it takes before it gets fished out.

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