odd things often turn up in the alley behind the house.  it's the
alley that leads to the garage where i park my motorcycle.  it is
a dead end alley.  there's no where to go once you're there.  you
can't even get into the house without opening the big garage door.
because of this, there is no traffic there.  it has a few corners 
that make it invisble from the outside world.  this makes it the
perfect place for nefarious activities.  odd things turn up in the
alley.  the first one was a dead rat.  day one: dead rat.  day two:
flat dead rat.  day three through day 45 or so: flat dead rat in
various states of decay.  i couldn't believe the flat dead rat stayed
for so long.  the lack of foot traffic probably helped.  the next
thing to turn up in the alley was, at first glance, a piece of tripe.
tripe n. 1. The rubbery lining of the stomach of cattle or other
ruminants, used as food. i tried to figure out how a piece of tripe
had ended up in the alley.  upon closer inspection, however, i was 
able to determine that it was not in fact tripe but a piece of flattened
cauliflower.  while much less revolting than the rubbery lining of the
stomach of cattle or another runimnant, i was still unable to figure
out the origin of the flat cauliflower.  following the cauliflower, the
next item to arrive was actually a series of items.  they were: a
condom box, two used condoms, and scattered tissues.  this caught my
attention for two reasons.  reason number one: it was yukky.  reason
number two: if you're going to have sex in a dirty alley covered with
flattened rats and cauliflower, why bother with the tissue?  the pile
of yukky items is still there.  i'm afraid to move it.  the latest item
to arrive, which did so in the last 24 hours, is a dead pigeon.  it is not
flat (yet).  it looks like it was flying, died, and fell.  it's wings are
tucked around its body and it's lying on its back but otherwise it looks
perfectly healthy.  i am surprised none of the neighborhood cats have eaten
it.  they didn't want the rat either, though.  maybe they know something
about the alley that i don't.

i really love the cobblestone alleys all over melbourne.  they remind me
of a storybook world fully of possibilty; mythical creatures, unexpected
events.  when alana walks, she always takes the alleys instead of the 
sidewalks.  i admire and enjoy this.  i love starring at the rusted tin
fences and overgrown vines.  i wonder what the stones that line the
ground are made of and where they come from.  someone, once, must have
cut them up by hand to make them square.  where did they do that?  what
did he look like? (i can only assume it was a he.  did women work in
mines 100 years ago?)  how many coaches, cars, and feet have passed over
those stones?  how long will they be there?  will someone decide they are
obsolete at some stage and cover them with cement?  what is the fate of
this ubiquitous piece of antiquity?