Stuff We Found on the Ground in 2009

This site is evidence of all the interesting stuff that I see while venturing around town. But some of the more interesting stuff is located all the way down on the ground where many people ignore. An unhealthy combination of low self esteem and bad posture allow me to focus on what other people may miss. I don't care about the obvious. Cigarette butts are a dime-a-dozen. The best stuff makes one wonder about the story behind it and how it ended up where it did.

As a year-end treat, here is a compilation of all the great stuff that I found on the ground in the Nazareth area. Throughout the year I put these up on our Facebook page as I find them. But I wanted to share them with everyone. I don't intend this to be some deep anti-littering campaign. In fact, most of this stuff I don't even pick up. I usually just snap a photo and keep walking.

Some of our loyal WeirdNazareth.com readers have even taken part in the fun and e-mailed us some of the stuff they found. So keep us in mind as you survey the ground from now on. For 2010 I hope to have a lot of reader submissions included in the Stuff I Found on the Ground 2010 edition. Anything you find on the ground that is weird, odd, interesting, or unusual can be e-mailed to weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

"What I Eat:" July 7, 2009.
I found this newspaper clipping on the ground W.Center near S.Green St. (Nazareth). It is taped to an index card. It says "What I Eat: Everyday I eat an apple, yogurt, cottage cheese, wheat germ, egg whites, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, Go Lean, mixed veggies and romaine."

"Crow:" found on W. Center St. (Nazareth) on July 9, 2009

"Baby bottle:" found 7/13/09 on Broad St. (Nazareth) kinda near Rio's but on the other side of the street. It's been there for a few weeks now...

"Set List:" found at the circle (Nazareth) on August 2, 2009. It was written on the back of some sort of housing lease agreement.

"Squirrel:" found on West Center St. (Nazareth) on July 11, 2009

"Squirrel, a different one:" found near the corner of New and East Center Streets (Nazareth) on August 23, 2009

"Penny and Lens Cloth:" found on Whitefield Street (Nazareth) on August 24, 2009. I moved the penny a little closer to the cloth but I wish I had left it alone.

"Yellow shoes:" found on West Center Street (Nazareth) near Memorial Square park on Sept. 2, 2009.

"Hand:" found on E. Chestnut Street (Nazareth) on Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2009.

"Magnum:" A Reader Submission...This was found by weird Nicole on Sept. 9, 2009 on a ledge at Nazareth Furniture (Main & Belvidere Sts.) Thanks, Nicole!

"Ball:" Found on Sept.18, 2009 on W. Center St. (Nazareth) near corner of S. Green Street. It says "PB Celebrating 100 Years on it. It is a Titleist.

"Tweezers:" Found Sept. 17, 2009 on Mauch Chunck St. near 5-points intersection (Nazareth).
"Flip Book:" A great find. Found near Nazareth Area High School on Sept. 20, 2009. It appears to be some sort of "rocket ship" flying into a "black hole." This lends itself to the first ever 'Stuff I Found on the Ground" Video. (see below)

"Wrapped Pickle:" Found on South Liberty Street (Nazareth) on Sept. 20, 2009. It is wrapped in a napkin and is almost completely dried out.

"Friendship Bracelet:" Found on Victory Lane (Nazareth) on Sept. 20, 2009 near NAHS.

"Tied Sock:" Although technically not ON the ground, this was found Oct. 3, 2009 at Memorial Square Park on W. Center Street.

"Sign:" It was extremely windy and this foam sign blew onto our sidewalk. Apparently, there is an insane asylum somewhere in the area. Found Oct 7, 2009 on S. Church St. (Nazareth)

Alien Invasion over Nazareth and the Cloud Cover-Up

View over Kraemer's Textiles on the morning of October 22

They came without warning. In a sky blanketed with small puffy clouds, holes appeared, huge holes with feathery clouds inside them. It looked as if enormous flying saucers had descended to the ground somewhere nearby, piercing the cloud cover and leaving straggling remnants where the clouds had been.

Over Washington Park--note the way the cloud streaks downward and toward the left

There were several of these holes. The largest seemed to be almost right over Nazareth and there were others to the north and west.

Recently similar clouds have been seen over Moscow and in Romania, and as you can see here, some people thought they were seeing an alien invasion. Certain UFO enthusiasts still say that the scientific explanation is a cover-up!

This photo by Scott Werkheiser shows that I wasn't the only one to notice the odd formations.

But for those of you who are blinded by science, here is what they are. They're called fallstreak holes or hole punch clouds, and they happen in water vapor clouds that are supercooled. When one bit of vapor crystallizes, the ones around it do, too, and the effect continues outward from that center in every direction, leaving a visible hole in the water vapor clouds, a hole that has a mass of ice crystals that are heavier and therefore sinking slowly, creating that feathery effect.

While it isn't really rare, this is an unusual atmospheric phenomenon, and we were lucky to observe it. You can see a variety of Fallstreak holes on the website of the Cloud Appreciation Society, here.

So it appears that no space ships landed in the greater Nazareth area on October 22, and we should be safe for now. But be sure to let us know if one of your family members starts acting strangely. If there really was an invasion, they may have been abducted and replaced by an exact double who secretly records your lives for alien reality TV. We're told that humanity provides much of the rest of the universe's comic relief.

Your 2009 Pumpkin Champion

With 86% of the precincts reported we can now declare a winner of the 2009 WeirdNazareth.com Pumpkin Carving Contest. Congratulations to Tracey Bellocchio of Nazareth, Pa.

Tracey's spider pumpkin was carried by a strong local turnout of young white chiroptophobes and minority arachnologists. The economy didn't hurt either. Exit polling showed that the predominant topic on voters' minds was the volatile global price of curcurbita futures.

Voter turnout was excellent with over 300 votes! The breakdown of the four finalists was as follows:

Tracey Bellocchio's Spider Pumpkin: 44%; Ben Does/Chris Polles' Pumpkins Partied Too Hard: 37%; Barry Huston's Three Pumpkin Set 15%; The Duffy Family's Bloody Bat 3%.

Congratulations to all the finalists and excellent job to all the enties. You can see a pic of all the entries in the slideshow below.



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Vote Now for your Favorite Pumpkin!

The deadline for submissions to the pumpkin carving contest has passed. Thanks to everyone that submitted an entry. The voting is now open. Remember, you are choosing the pumpkin that will represent you for an entire year. Please take this seriously. Put the partisan nonsense behind you and do the right thing. CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Welcome, welcome. Step into the booth. You can close the curtain behind you by
pulling that big lever. No, that one...the big one. Put your weight into it.
Good. Now, just choose your favorite pumpkin by clicking the little button and
clicking submit. Good. No, you have to pull the lever back the other way in
order to register your vote and open the curtain. Have you ever voted before?
No, you don't have to worry about chads this year. It's all electronic. OK,
good. You're all done. Have a nice day. Please, you're holding up the line.
Please keep moving.

Should the reigning winner become unable to serve for any reason (e.g. assassination, rotting, etc.) the second place pumpkin will step in. Polls close Nov. 9.