Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Concord/Assabet and Message in a Bottle

After the morning's rain came to an end, I launched near mid-day at Lowell Road in Concord and trash patrolled the Concord River down to Saw Mill Brook.  After passing under Flint's Bridge, I came upon a floating glass bottle stuck behind a fallen tree limb.  When retrieved, it became apparent there was a message inside.  Opening the bottle revealed a note written in ten different languages, a US quarter, a Euro 20 cent coin, a paper Yuan with a picture of Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) and what appears to be a small piece of coral...
The note reads (in English): "Hi you have found something that will bring you good luck.  The environment loves you, after reading this message, please recycle the bottle, (or keep the message going).  Send an email to (note's writer) stating who you are and where you found the bottle.  Tell us your name, the country you live in and your email address, don't forget to date it!  Please write a note and keep this bottle going.  Please respond promptly because we would like to know the outcome of the bottle.  Congrats!  We speak English just FYI."

Seems someone put a lot of time into translating this note into so many languages.  I'm left to wonder as to the significance of the paper bill and coins.  While I elected not to keep the bottle going, I did recycle it and thought I'd share the message here.  This just goes to show, one never knows what will be encountered while out on the water!
BTW, GPS coordinates where bottle was found:  N 42* 28.297  by W 71* 20.874

Returning to Egg Rock, I headed upriver on the Assabet and encountered Jeff P. paddling his Zastera  kayak.  His Czech Republic built boat was designed for whitewater racing.  Jeff was the only other paddler seen while out on the water.

Upon reaching the mouth of Spencer Brook, my trash haul was getting restless, so we all took a break at the confluence...

Goofy seems perplexed by the "Smart" water bottle.  Seems like a misnomer to me.
There were 28 recyclable containers (6 redeemable) and 28 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as styrofoam, nip bottles, a sneaker, a milk crate, and an empty spray can of penetrating oil. 

This turtle was enjoying a little sunshine in Spencer Brook...

This was his view looking out into the Assabet River...


Lastly, yesterday's terrestrial patrol of 2 miles produced a disturbing amount of very recent litter...
I don't know how others feel, but it's looking to me like roadside littering is getting worse, rather than better.  There were 12 recyclable containers (6 redeemable) and 11 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish.  Today's haul combined with yesterday's brings my YTD total to  2529.

Who knew "Dark 'n Stormys" were available (pre-mixed) in a can?
  

4 comments:

BERNIE said...

New Program: Everyone who is about to drop an empty can or bottle onto the ground or waterway must first write a long note in at least ten different languages ending with the message "the environment loves you"- even though the letter writer/litterer apparently does not care much for the environment.

Mark Mayall said...

so did you e-mail the bottle dropper?

Al said...

Mark, Yes, I did as the bottle dropper asked. Have yet to receive a reply.

Al said...

A reply was received from the person who launched the "bottle with a message". She expressed thanks for being sent the requested information.
I am hoping she'll provide the location where the bottle's journey started and also the date.
I believe she is well intentioned.