The city of Atlanta public schools has decided to use that space, so they have Winter Construction busy making a kindergarten for Morris Branden Elementary right now. Hopefully, that will help boost property values.
Last fall, I noticed that we were getting some graffiti on the Winter Construction sign. I was walking the dogs every morning and at least some evenings at that point. I would see it almost every night, but it was ALWAYS gone by the next morning. I became intrigued because it reminded me of the chapter about the New York subway in The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell. The subway authority cleaned the cars EVERY night, until the graffiti artists finally gave up.
The folks at Winter Construction must have read that book, I thought. I was even on the lookout for the truck that had the new signs. It must be expensive to put new signs out every night, but what a statement it was making. I was looking for the manager of the construction project to compliment him on his perseverance.
I mentioned this whole pattern to Mary Anne and got her to come on the walk with me one evening. Sure enough, there was the graffiti again. As always, it was the same symbol. Kind of a sideways "V", with a vertical line through it. I didn't know what gang that represented, but it had to be something, despite the fact that this really isn't a neighborhood full of gangs. Anyway, when she looked at it, MA said "What graffiti?". We walked closer so she could see it better. Then she said "That's the shadow of the street sign caused by the street light".
The angle from this light
through this sign
leaves this shadow
As herself says, I'm a freakin' genius.
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