Birds and Benches

It's been a little more than a month since I last wrote a blog.  I got distracted by this owl over by St. Anthony Main. Normally street art like this is outside but this fine mural by Adam Turman must be viewed from the outside looking in.  I was doing just that and a minute later I was stepping off the sidewalk, rolling my ankle and ended up flat on the ground in the dirt.  My husband was looking down at me and thinking what the F&%#$ have you done now woman.  I layed there in the dirt (giving myself a few minutes to assess the damage).  Yep, ankle hurts, knee hurts, neck hurts.  Thanks to Chad, a stranger who assisted us in getting back to our side of the river.  

With the help of some physical therapy on my ankle, I've been back out checking on the park.  It was fun to see this canoeist still enjoying the Mississippi River and Bassett Creek on a December afternoon in Minnesota.

There was a real shit storm that hit this bench.

I stalked this tiny Downey Woodpecker until I got a photo.

I've been picking up trash of course.  Some of it, like the sock inside the shoe is frozen solid.  Of course there is less of this kind of thing in the park, but I still see signs of folks sleeping out.  Seems dangerous.  It is dangerous.

Finally, I am a little preoccupied with this bench.  Located above Bassett Creek, it has a nice view of the Mississippi.  A little isolated, so it's a good drinking bench.  I pick up a lot of beer and liquor bottles in this spot.  It's not that I mind that.  It's just that most often the folks that drink here throw their litter off the cliff and into the shrubs below.  I will eventually be able to get to this spot at the end of next summer when the water levels change again.  What would it take to change this behavior here?  Should Park and Rec just remove the bench?  That would be one way I suppose.  If there was a trash can here would that help or would the trash can just get pushed over and rolled down the hill?  It would definitely get rolled down the hill. What about a sign? A sign that says "please don't blah, blah, blah".  No, signs are just good for adding graffiti to.  Flowers?  Yes, and maybe paint that bench pink.  Well, there is some kind of solution here and I'll give it some thought.