you never really can go home

my childhood fav spot :(

This week I took my son to my favorite place from when I was growing up.  It's just down the hill from my parent's house, and an easy bike ride from there, maybe a quarter of a mile.  There was a little dirt path that went through ponds and creeks, until it all met at the river.  It was lush, green, a haven.

ugly freeway

One day they paved it to meet up with the greenbelt.   The greenbelt follows the river for about 21 miles in town.  It was designed for bicyclers and commuters. Luckily, this little offshoot was still a secret to most people, and even 5 years ago it was still a sacred safe spot to be in nature, even when they built the highway connector that goes right past it. 

pile of trees

But today-  wow!  Not only paved, but someone put up a chainlink fence on both sides, with razor wire no less!  To my horror, I saw they tore down the trees, dammed the water.  

 

now dams, once lush and beautiful

Wow.  I can't even imagine what business decided that was better than a beautiful spot near the river.  I had to blink back tears look through ugly chainlink, a view of what was once my own little paradise.  

 

train trestle

Thankfully, the view got better as we passed the train trestle to the river.  They haven't made the river illegal yet.   And the sign says you can still jump from the bridge down into the deep water, as long as you don't land within 50 feet of people floating in the water.

good swimming spot

 We walked along the greenbelt and found a nice place to picnic and wade in the water.  The river is so icy cold that we argued how many hours ago that same water was fresh snow.   I googled how cold the river is this time of year.  Even on a hot sunny 90 degree day, the water is only 41 degrees.  Yipe!! 

it is still pretty here

view of river