A very damaged flip-flop, found not on the beach but alongside a creek in a wooded park, miles away from Lake Michigan.
And so another season ends.
Photographed September 22, 2015
Shoe by the Creek
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Tag Archives: Found objects
Sandal by the Shore
Photographed August 25, 2015
Someone’s Art Installation
I came across someone’s art project on the pebble beach:
Which featured this boot:
Photographed August 13, 2015
Flip-Flop in the Sand
I’m not 100% sure that this zori was abandoned. It looks like someone may have thrown it or kicked it off as he ran out of the water.
Its mate, however, like its owner, was nowhere to be found.
Since March, I’ve been to the lakefront fifteen times… yet I’ve found only two shoes or parts of shoes.
The weather has been very cool, especially right at the lake. Perhaps it’s been too cold for people to remove their shoes, throw them around, or leave them behind.
Sole #6
The first shoe of the season is part of a sole. It is very degraded and I expect it is left over from last year.
I had to flip it over to be sure what it was. You can see little perforations around the edge that indicate that it is part of a shoe.
I’m not really sure if it is from an outer sole or an inner sole.
I also came across this, which does seem recent:
And here’s what the beach looks like right now, in one of the less littered areas. It really was a beautiful day.
Photographed April 2, 2015
Sole #5
Photographed October 24, 2014
Old Navy Flip-Flop, One Week Later
Photographed October 24, 2014
Boot
Photographed October 17, 2014
Old Navy Flip-Flop
Photographed October 17, 2014
Clog: Eight Days Later
Here’s the clog of the Ancient Mariner, eight days later.
The dead bird is gone, or at least moved.
This particular beach has been exceptionally filthy this year. These two weeks that the clog was here were the filthiest days so far on the filthiest beach: densely strewn with plastic, dead birds, boat parts, and junk of every imagining.
This year I have felt very sad about the amount of plastic. From earlier in the year:
It makes me think about microplastic pollution. Plastic doesn’t disappear, it just breaks down into tinier pieces. The tiny pieces attract toxins and are eaten by birds and sea creatures. Even if we don’t eat these creatures, we drink this water.
Research is being done on the Great Lakes by the 5 Gyres Institute, an organization dedicated to eliminating plastic pollution in the oceans. Please support them.
Plastic debris photographed August 28, 2014
Clog photographed October 3, 2014
Shoes On The Beach 