This is what a friend sent me,
Hey All...
I am now living in Kentucky. I am close to family here and am enjoying this move much better. I have not written lately...sort of out of practice, but I read about a local park where I grew up that is facing a baseball complex that developers want to bring into the city. This issue sparred me to want to raise my voice. so here we go
UNTITLED
After a 20 year lapse, I have resettled back into this area. Resettled into the place where I learned how to walk and talk. Memories float forward like those of the yellow house that once stood on Washington Ave, next to the train tracks which have since disappeared; or the Redbird Gas Station caddy corner from that home which is now the four lane highway buzzing by Bosse High School…it is still called Bosse, yes? They are all but ghosts now. They are gone, removed. They have become life lessons of appreciating the here and now. But my heart sank when I opened the Sunday newspaper to discover the baseball complex issue with Wesselman Park.
When I was little, my father would walk me through the woods in the park and tell stories of the city. He would proudly tell how he sat on community boards that helped to preserve these woods. He spoke of how the railroad ties placed along some of the paths were kept there at the park as a memory of the past. The railroad ties were used by the horses as leverage through the swampy parts of the town while pulling wagons of goods to market. Most of those railroad ties have deteriorated and my father has passed, but these stories still exist and I have learned from him about stewardship of the land.
Back then the park was almost on the edge of town, and it teemed with wildlife. As the city grew, I matured and began my family. Wesselman Park retained it value as my family enjoyed its wonders too. The Nature Center was always our first stop, taking in the displays and the interactive learning toys. The bird room became the best treat in the Center. In this hushed semi circle room, you can not only see the colorful birds and squirrels through the tinted windows, but you can hear them sing and chatter. But once you stepped out the door to the trails, another world opens.
Walking in the woods along the dirt paths, you can free yourself of the concrete streets and shopping malls that exist a few blocks away. You can blanket yourself with trees, foliage and the sounds of the wind and animals. Even the sweet woodsy smell of the earth tickles the nose. The sunlight plays with the shadows and opens the door to the imagination. It was and still is pure heaven the way nature intended, they way the people like my father once envisioned.
One time along one of the many paths that wind through the woods and circle back to the Nature Center, I came upon a doe. She blended in so well with the early spring surroundings I almost missed seeing her. Her big eyes watched me, never moving. She was waiting to give birth. I respected her space and quietly moved on with warmth settling into my soul. Often I would end my walks at the pond where the turtles sunbathed on the floating logs. The natural amp theater there was always welcoming, with the green sloping hill over looking the water and green moss. Often I would come to Wesselman Park to contemplate of life’s lessons.
Bringing myself back to the here and now, I have to say I was in turn, delighted at the support that was evident in the Sunday’s Evansville Courier & Press opinion page. There must have been a huge outcry to produce such overwhelming support in favor of saving Wesselman Park. The voice of the stewards! There are many reasons to keep the park as is; memories, preservation of woods and wildlife, cultural events locale, even going “green”…after all the trees and plants continually clean our city air, yet alone our spirits.
I think it is a good time to go for a walk in the woods. Maybe I will sit by the pond and contemplate on the men and women who back when, dreamed to save a few acres and believed in its splendor and magic and knew it as priceless.
Jill Wilder Running Hawk 2008
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Topic: Take care of our wildlife (Read 3570 times)
