Here’s Johnny
I was racing a storm as I power-walked down Franklin Boulevard this afternoon. The sun was shining and the skies were bright blue when I started walking the street from the corner of 117th Street at the Cleveland border. People were outside taking walks and doing yardwork. As I continued along the sky started darkening, the rain was pelting, and my normal leisurely stroll turned into a race-walking pace.
Before I had to hurry along, I came across a relic next to Sam’s Food and Beverage on the corner of Winchester and Franklin. It was an old school pay phone. There was even a sign on the pole above it stating you could “Call Anywhere in the USA for 25 Cents Per Minute”. I picked up the receiver and unfortunately there wasn’t a dial tone. I was hoping to call my Mom and ask her to pick me up from soccer practice like I used to have to do back in 1980s.
The last experience I was able enjoy on Franklin before the rain came was getting a pic in front of Lakewood High School’s iconic mural. It is titled “Early Settler”, though I think most Lakewoodites know it as Johnny Appleseed. I did my best Johnny pose and was lucky a high school student volunteered to snap the picture (not sure how I could have pulled that off with a selfie). The artist is Viktor Schreckengost, and according to the plaque inside of Lakewood High School, the character is based off of local legend Dr. Jared Potter Kirtland: Botanist, Doctor, Naturalist, and Earl Settler. Back in February when I walked Bunts, I passed a historical marker dedicated to Dr. Kirtland. You can check it out by looking back to that post.
The rest of my walk was a blur, but fortunately I made it back home right before the really heavy rain and thunder started.
