Cash in the Creek

If you needed some cash fast, would you hop the fence and scavenge quarters yards from the top of Minnehaha Falls?  Weirdly, I've had that discussion and decided that if need be I would tether myself to the bridge and go out so early in the morning as not to embarrass myself or have someone call 911 on my behalf.  But that's just beer talk and not really what any normal person would do.  Anyways, I happened to be at the top of the falls this morning so I could watch my fantasy play out.

The real reason I was at Minnehaha Park was to walk the path down to the river and hope to see any early spring plants popping up.  In the wet marshy areas along the creek a colony of Skunk Cabbage was emerging.

The leaves, when crushed, are supposed to smell like skunk but are attractive to insects in spite of the funky odor.  Some people might plant these in their garden if they want to repel small animals that want to feast on their tomatoes.

I came across this interesting tree on the trail.  I'm calling it the bubble gum tree.  If I you chew gum in the forest this is apparently where you leave it. 

There were quite a few folks in the park with orange vests on this morning and I finally asked one of them what kind of project they were working on.  They were looking for anything related to a young man who had disappeared a month ago and last seen on one of the nearby bridges.  I hope he has just gone off on an adventure but that is probably not the case.

There were some river turtles sunning themselves and a couple dozen folks fishing along the banks today.  Several Park and Rec employees were picking up trash.  One hiker with a garbage sack was doing her thing picking up litter along the trail too. Nice job.  I have been feeling as lazy as that turtle on the shore, but  I guess it's time for me to get started picking up a little litter in the parks too.