The overpass - 7/1/09

There is a freeway overpass in American Fork (yeah, that's the actual name of the city for out-of-towners... no, I'm not kidding) that I drive under about a dozen times during the week. It's unique - not because of the generic chain-link fence that adorns its concrete walls, but because of the red plastic Solo-brand disposable cups that people stick in holes to spell out messages to the public speeding along I-15. I find any attempt to communicate in a non-conventional way fascinating, and it's especially rewarding when the message is worth hearing.

Unfortunately, I've never seen anything worth remembering over the years as I've driven under it, but it's still very fascinating to see people attempt to communicate in red Solo cup. Sometimes it's "happy birthday so-and-so," other times it's "welcome back so-and-so." When the cups disappear altogether (I assume someone finally gets sick of it and cleans it up), they return days or weeks later with a new message. The message is occasionally altered, and the cups are effectively "recycled." It's like a poor man's marquee, and it stays surprisingly fresh and current.

I thought I'd start documenting the weird phenomenon - maybe someone from NPR will also find it fascinating and want to interview me. Maybe I'll create a coffee table book from all the pictures I take.

Or maybe I'll just entertain myself.

I'm not sure what happened here, but all I can make out is "1 year." I think someone was trying to celebrate an anniversary when they ran out of cups.