another way to the U. S. Post Office

Today was another scorcher in Stuart, FL.

Since I needed more minutes for my first Tracfone, I stopped in at Dollar General to purchase airtime -- again, as in the past, I took an airtime card hanging from a metal hook and presented it at the cash register, and again I was charged sales tax for a card I could not keep! and was given a transaction receipt that gave the new Airtime PIN number to add more minutes to the 'phone's Airtime 'tank'. Actually, I was charged tax upon the sales receipt!

After taking advantage of a Walgreen's special sale offer to send vitamin-and-mineral pills to my daughter so as to boost her immune system, I hiked a different route to the USPO along SE Ocean Boulevard towards "historic downtown Stuart"; a few ripened mangos lay on the sidewalk beneath their tree, while other dried-'n'-dead seeds were tossed through metal streetside grates into subterranean water and one recently pulped/skinless seed was pocketed to toss into a likely sprouting place. (The same yellow wire, once taut against a utility pole, remained as a loosened sort of potential noose beside the SE Ocean sidewalk southside that might encircle and hold fast a unwary pedestrian. On Central Avenue at the corner with S. Lake Street, a similar situation exists with a much heavier metal wire that has no warning colored sheath.) Turning southward on Flagler Avenue, a number of city/county offices were passed; then, Sailfish Park appeared, empty but graced with transit benches nearby.

I had thought to also pocket a live-seed mango from the sidewalk to toss by the Middle School pond, but alas! the pond was totally gone and construction workers busily hoisted and assembled an entirely new pondless building not far from Memorial Park. The mango trees grow well near the St. Lucie River and nearby the local ponds; therefore the live mango/seeds were carried to the pond beside the USPO on Johnson Street.

Central Avenue merges into Park Avenue nearby a small playground beside the same railroad- track rails that hold trains moving along the Dixie Highway -- in other words, rather than hike through the 10th Street/Florida Street neighborhoods, the same intersection was reached walking southward from "historic downtown Stuart".

Fish greeted me beside the USPO pond after other dried-and-dead/dormant mango seeds found were tossed into the canal near the FL Street intersection with Johnson Avenue, and there at the pond the whole small mango pocketed was tossed beneath a shoreline rock formation. An apple-like green fruit (cherimoya?) left lying on a bench was tossed into the pond, and for that action I received some dank looks from area habituees.

Two women with divergent appearances each carried an umbrella to ward off the sun's rays as they moved towards McDonald's on U. S. 1 -- one walking across the major thoroughfare and the other seated on a mechanical scooter. The sunshine was very hot, but I scored some Mexican take-out super-burritos and trudged northward along Monterey Road to return to KTR, Kcc and one cool condo.

Two rusting batteries and a teal-blue BiC lighter (empty) were removed from the common domain, as were the mouthpiece and bottom sections of a brown beer bottle left in the bicycle lane (westside U. S. 1).