SHARED PLACE FOR SHARING SPACE

A public park is a shared place for sharing space, and this one is one of the best at the job.

Some parks are better at it, some worse, but this one hits the sweet spot on every count.

A river? Check.

A forest? Check.

Comfy trails? Check.

It’s built for bikers, runners, walkers, the old, and the young.

A park like this is the answer to every question of, “What do you want to do today?”

Take a walk in park.

It’s a big one, so make it a long walk, a short walk, throw a ball, shoot hoops, fish, drift, do it all.

 

A Favorite Park

Instead of gravel paths winding through a forest, the park could have been a parcel of land sold for development.

The wetlands and swampy land could have been drained and paved over and the wildlife sent someplace else to roost and nest and thrive, wherever that might be.

Drain the land and pour that concrete for a better tomorrow? Nooooo.

 

 

Clear the land to build a golf course? Nooooo.

Cut the trees for progress? Nooooo.

That leaves a stain on whatever kind of a-hole in one does that.

 

Humans In Nature = Human Nature

 

Sharing space in nature is a human need, some being more needy than others, like flemish forest walk paintings.

Because I took a class and looked in a book, this park sends me to Flemland.

No passport needed, no lines to wait in, just an inviting slice of nature’s pie for better health and fitness.

 

 

I’m a fan of health and fitness. It comes with the territory from what I’ve seen.

The folks on scooters in the grocery store didn’t get there over night.

Either something happened, or didn’t happen.

The thing to remember with those folks is that they’re just as shocked to be there, as they are shocking to see the first time.

Old and young and big and small, when you can’t get around the way you’d like to, you find a way and saddle up.

 

Park Shape

This park is where my kids played soccer, where my grandkids play soccer now.

Warm ane fuzzy? Yes and yes.

I call it roots, Oregon roots like a big old tree living through floods and drought and the other stuff trees live through.

Beavers?

My mother in law and I walked the paved path.

It’s near here that she tripped on a raised spacer walking alone and landed on her head.

Don’t do that.

She was already in the ambulance when I got there.

Whether you go for the nostalgia, go for a good sweat, or something in between, go to the nearest park for a park-bath.

You’ve heard of forest bathing? Why not a park bath, too.

 

PS:

Sometimes I hear people talking and I try to balance the real and the ‘woo woo.’

Whether you get a spiritual awakening, or just raise your pulse above ‘near death’, a nice walk in the park is a remedy for questions unasked.

First you feel a little stiff and think of walking around the car, getting in, and going back home.

But, you compromise and give yourself ten minutes before packing it in.

Ten minutes later you feel warmed up, found your pace, the Olympics aren’t far away, and you need to train. All. Day. Long.

Or, somewhere between 30-45 minutes at a brisk stride.

 

PSS:

How many times have you heard puss-eyed, puffy-faced, old men doing their best imitations of young men with their lives still ahead of them?

Due to my baby boomer status, I know a lot of older people. I also know millennials, a lot of them.

Who best to trust with the future, Old Puss Eye and his merry band of marauders cutting and chopping and chipping before admitting their mistakes, or the janitorial crew, the custodians of the constitution, the defenders of democracy?

To the average, every day, walk in the park American, Old Puss Eye could be the answer to questions unasked.

No, wait. He is the answer they’ve been waiting for if they’ve been praying with their preacher for higher prices in America, instability abroad, and the ongoing showmanship from the big stage.

If you’ve seen enough? Vote.

If you’ve heard enough? Vote. (millennials)

If you want one set of rules to apply equally, like going to court for a traffic ticket at the photo light near Fred Meyer on Hwy99 when the other guy gets a pass? Vote.

 

 

The air feels fresher already.

Get out there and do the walk.

 

And after all the violence and double talk
There’s just a song in all the trouble and the strife
You do the walk, yeah, you do the walk of life
Hmm, they do the walk of life