I didn’t quite take the walk I expected this morning. As I neared the trail crossing on Poplar, some kind of four-wheeler or golf cart came racing from the north and made an extremely fast turn and loop into the apartments adjacent to the trail.  I knew something weird was going on. 

In less than a minute, two police vehicles approached. They turned their lights off as they turned left/north and began looping in and out the apartments all the way down to where the trail abuts the Agri farm.

Naturally, I sensed adventure and walked through the backside of the apartments. As I meandered through, I could see the police going through the apartments with their lights off. 

As I came back up, I waved down one of the two police cars that was driving down the main side street with its lights off. 

“Are y’all by chance looking for someone driving an ATV or golf cart?”

The officer in the passenger seat looked very reluctant to answer. The driver simply said, “No, we’re not.”

He answered in a way that told me the conversation was over. I kept walking, turning to make my own loops through the short side streets. The police continued their lights-off patrol. 

After about 20 minutes, I returned to Poplar and kept walking. I know the sidewalks meticulously. There’s a stretch that’s not safe to walk on. The trail improvements on the eastside don’t extend past the trail access. So that section of sidewalk is dangerous. Walking next to the curb, I did like I always do and walked against traffic flow. Not that there was any traffic. In fact, they only traffic I had seen were the police officers with their lights off. And they would have passed me on my right on the other side of the road. 

Until the expensive new student housing gets built in the wild oasis area where Leverett ends, there’s no incentive to make the sidewalks safe past the trail. They didn’t even bother to put lights in past the trail. Inexplicably, they put in beautiful modern lighting all the way from the trail up to Gregg. Where almost no one lives, leaving the densely crowded opposite side between the trail and Leverett completely dark. Makes a lot of sense. For those who know the area, that’s where the little building that is supposedly an art project sits, waiting for the next graffiti artist to ignore the purpose of the building.

Just as I was about to step back up under the sidewalk where it became mostly safe again, one of the police vehicles slowed down. I assumed they were going to ask me if I had seen anything. 

“Do you mind stepping up on the sidewalk?” It was one of the officers. 

“Yeah, of course.” What else was I going to say? Everyone on Poplar knows the sidewalk is a trip hazard. Not to mention the people who rent the Veo scooters and ride them 30 mph in the dark. I’ve been doing this for years and probably know more about this neighborhood than almost anybody. 

That’s when the previously unifentified four-wheeler passed me. By the markings on it, I saw that it was obviously part of the efforts of the police department to locate whoever they were chasing through the neighborhood.  

I walked quite a bit more, watching the little four-wheeler zip around Leverett, Poplar, and all the side streets. They obviously didn’t find whoever they were looking for. Had they asked me, I would have told them that only one vehicle came into the entire area in the interim. I knew exactly where it parked. Only one other pedestrian came through any of the streets at that hour. 

Not that I am a criminal, but I know what everyone else knows. If you’re anywhere in the area and don’t want to be found, you step off the wide trail and into the shallow creek. Especially in the area where what’s known as flat rock is. 

The last picture captures how dark it is through there, exactly where the sidewalk can’t be trusted. The middle of the picture captures the brilliance of the endless stream of modern streetlights they installed. 

The police, of course, pulled a U2, because they obviously didn’t find what they were looking for. If only there were a pedestrian like me they could have asked. It may not sound like it, but I’m amused. 

And I appreciate the adventure. 

Only because I’m a preachy bastard will I say a few more words. If someone is worried about my safety, I would recommend they fix the sidewalk and give streetlights the attention they need. But all of that effort is pointless if you’re going to drive up and down dark neighborhood streets with no lights on. This is doubly true If you’re driving a four-wheeler on the streets and sidewalks in the dark.

But what do I know. I’m just a guy who loves walking the dark neighborhood streets at 2:00 in the morning.