This past weekend we drove down to Wilmington, Illinois to take a look at the Kankakee River, which has been threatening to flood there because of a buildup of ice dams. I like all things relating to heavy weather, so this was kind of a must-see for me.
It’s remarkably hard to get directly on the bank in much of the town, but right out in the middle of the river is an island, with parks on both the north and south ends. Both of the parks were completely flooded, which was kind of impressive to see, but you still couldn’t get a good view of the ice dams from the park access roads. Also on this island is a disreputable little trailer park, which at first glance looks like it might actually be a junkyard. I can’t help but wonder why the town hasn’t condemned it and turned it into more park land.
Anyway, we drove in there and found a perfect spot to view the river. The first thing I saw when I got out of the van was the trailer in the image above. Naturally, I couldn’t resist taking the photo. I figure either someone was pretty mad at whoever lived there, or maybe down at the other end is spray painted “dirtbag”. Kind of his-and-hers designated parking for the trailer set.
So we did our bit, looked at the ice on the river, took some photos, and turned to leave. Standing by the trailer door was a bona-fide redneck, loudly telling some friends “He better not be takin’ no pictures of my fuckin’ house”. He repeated it several times, clearly wanting to get some reaction from me, or intimidate me, or something. Sorry fella. 1) It isn’t a house, it’s a trailer. And a crappy one at that. 2) Way too late, dude. That ship already sailed. 3) I’ve got the same build, same messy beard, and same disheveled long hair, so your appearance isn’t the least bit threatening to me. Though I do at least have a passing acquaintance with soap.
Ah well, at least I got one interesting picture that day.
