San Diego weather is unseasonably mild this week. For example, today’s high was 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit). Forecast is 23 C (74 F) tomorrow, with no measurable cooling for the remainder of the week; what a treat, or would be, if not for the flu.
I find sunlight—heat, more so—to be therapeutic. That makes reading in the car appealing right now, and I walk when temperature is highest. But I don’t want to directly infect anyone, so I traverse the alleys, like we Wilcoxes did during the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 lockdowns. There are many fewer face-to-face encounters.
While walking the Alabama alley that hugs Mississippi Street, this afternoon, I unexpectedly came across the subject of the Featured Image. (Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 80, 1/5000 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 1:27 p.m. PST). You simply don’t find bicycles that look this good put out for free takeaway. You will find broken bikes, often remnants of thefts, but nothing like this. The Fuji Sagres is all nostalgic design and so appealing that I wanted to hop on and ride off. But we have no space to store the beauty.
I snapped some shots, sighed, and continued along. About two blocks beyond, a dingy white van turned into the alley and started to proceed slowly. Scavengers! I could see a man and woman as they drove by and towards where was the Sagres. Sure enough, they stopped for the vintage-styled road bike.
That turned me around. Over the course of several days, I had seen some other things put out in the alley—some of it still unclaimed. I got Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra ready to document some of the other items, and all of them within three consecutive blocks.
The Dyna-Glo 4-Burner Propane Gas Grill has been in the alley for at least a few days. I don’t know the condition of this one. When in stock, the thing sells new at Home Depot for $577. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 1:41 p.m.
Let’s move on to the overly-weathered and sagging side table. Some things, nobody wants. This item has been moved around but not taken for some time. Possibly weeks and during several rain storm systems. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 40, 1/200 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 1:41 p.m.
The sofa is in surprisingly good condition, and it only appeared in the alley yesterday. That means no rain exposure. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 32, 1/400 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 1:44 p.m.
Half a block down, someone put together the storage unit and storage rack. The wooden unit soaked in days of rain, and you can see some of the negative affects already. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 40, 1/200 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 1:48 p.m.
Welcome to Southern California’s alley giveaway culture, where one person’s discard is someone else’s treasure.