Lost And Found

I don't know if they picked me or if it was just a random thing. I'll probably never know.

But when I did my Del Norte walk this evening, I found something in between the fences that should not be there.

I'd gotten a hint earlier that there might be something planted there. I should have been paying more attention maybe. But there were... things going on when I was being told. I just filed it away as a hint and paid attention to other things. So when it was time for my walk I had a vague hint that I should be extra vigilant.

Unless I'm sick or it's covered with ice or something dangerous (like running full blast to avoid the lightning) I usually do pay pretty good attention to my surroundings when I'm doing the walk. I don't want to miss a hole in the fence or a pull in the wire that might suggest someone has intentions of escaping or has escaped. I don't want to miss anything that someone may have tried to toss in or out of the fence.

After all, that is the whole reason for doing the walk. To make sure that our outer perimeter hasn't been breached or compromised. I know that and treat it pretty seriously.

There's a fair amount of trash that has blown into the fences and the razor wire and i know where most of it is. If somebody said "Where is the big potato chip bag in the fence?" I could say "Zone seven." And if they wanted to know where the yellow dollar store bag was I could tell them that it was in zone eleven. Most of this stuff is pretty deep in the razor wire and would be difficult to get out without getting tangled up in the wire so it gets left there until it disintegrates.

So when I got around the corner from zone 10 and into 11 and saw something bright white by the cinderblocks that cross the creek I knew right away there was something new out there. And the hint I had gotten earlier filtered back into my brain.

It was a pair of state issued boxers. Immediately a bazillion questions ran through my mind. Was this a set up? Evidence of an escape or an attempt? Just an accident of the wind? I stood there for a couple of seconds then got on the radio and reported it. They told me to "Stand By."

While I was waiting I nudged them with my foot and noticed there was a piece of paper folded up inside of them. Bending down to retrieve it I read:

"When you find this, return it to the shift commander after your Del Norte walk. Thank you."

So I got back on the radio and reported that. They told me to bring both items with me when I came back through.

I'll just have to say that I wasn't too thrilled about having to tote a pair of inmate underwear halfway around the friggin' camp.

The first thing out of my mouth when I walked into Captain Fluffy's office was "You could have used a t-shirt, fer gawds sake!"

He just laughed and said "You can blame that on your Lieutenants. The boxers were their thing. Good job, though! Thanks!"

So the whole thing was a test to make sure we were paying attention out there. And I'm glad that I passed the test.

But boxers? Really?

Tomorrow, being July 1st, will be Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day and Build A Scarecrow Day. Hmm.. maybe we could build an ice cream scarecrow! It will also be many other things such as Canada Day, Chicken Wing Day, Second Half of the Year Day, Postage Stamp Day, Zip Code Day and the beginning of Roswell UFO Days.

Whoop!