The morning weather was nasty on Tuesday and Wednesday, putting the kibosh on walking due to drizzly, dreary, damp and dismal conditions. How’s that for a description dripping with alliteration?
As I walked along the perimeter path this morning, I was pondering that our weather, albeit fickle with those few bouts of snow as late as two weeks ago, has been true to that ditty that we all chanted when we were little nippers: “March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.” Unfortunately May is just around the corner and I have not seen a hint of any flowers, save for a few crocuses and snowdrops back in February and the small contingent of weather-beaten daffodils remaining after the others were destroyed during the torrential rain storms last weekend.
Even the harbinger of Spring, the golden-colored forsythia bushes, have not yet put in an appearance. Down at the park, the trees are bare and the reeds and swamp grass which stir gently in the wind when I pass, are still drab looking and dried up.
The blah landscape, now so devoid of color, seems unnatural this far into Spring.
I sure was antsy to get out and walk and I headed right down to my favorite nature nook, not only because it is National Park Week, but also because I had a celebration of sorts today … it was five years ago on this date that I discovered Council Point Park.
I’ve wondered many times since I first meandered down there, why I never visited that Park before? Of course I never began my walking regimen until 2011, and had only heard of Council Point Park because that had been the venue for our informal 30th high school class reunion. The x-ray tech at my mom’s orthopedic doctor’s office, also a former high school pal, was on the reunion committee and she urged me to go since it was close to my house. I skipped the event, which I later learned was attended by only a handful of people from our class, a graduating class which had numbered 613 students. The attendees gathered under the Park pavilion to grill hamburgers and hotdogs, nibble sheet cake and the funds they collected for the reunion enabled them to plant a memorial tree and stone plaque to honor our classmates from Lincoln Park High School’s Class of ’73 that had passed away.
At the time when Sandy mentioned this reunion event, I racked my brain to pinpoint where this Council Point Park was, just a mile from my house? But, I never did investigate.
On the morning of Friday, April 26, 2013, I had a little extra time to kill since my boss was on vacation in Australia traveling in a catamaran, sailing along the Great Barrier Reef. The radio station I listen to had been touting an event spanning several days at Council Point Park commemorating the 250th anniversary of Chief Pontiac’s council. As part of the ceremony that weekend, a permanent marker would be placed to recognize that memorial gathering.
The event sounded a little boring, however, the lure of viewing authentic wigwams and birch bark canoes was intriguing, so I headed to the Park for a look-see. A large stone with an engraved plaque recognizing that historical event sits at the entrance to the Park and is pictured above. But there was little else to see, except a large Park seemingly smack dab in the center of a bustling city. I saw what appeared to be an asphalt walking path and decided to “go for it” and thus began a fascination with this nature nook.
Since I usually wear a pedometer, I’ve kept a record of miles trod through the years, and I’d have to say, without consulting my records, more miles have been spent at this venue than anywhere else I’ve walked since I began the walking regimen in 2011. I’ve written about the Park’s “wilderness” as well as the Creek that runs along the edge of the path in Loop #1 and part of the wide-open spaces of Loop #2. Of course you already know about the frequent escapades with the resident critters. It is a delightful venue which never disappoints.
The landscape at Council Point Park will soon come to life once again, and, in a couple more weeks I will be telling you about the carpet of dandelions, the trees that are leafing out, or the bushes groaning with black raspberries. The goslings and ducklings will be toddling after their parents, while we, the walkers on the perimeter path, will be careful to keep our distance from our fine-feathered friends, for their sake and ours. The songbirds will sing even more sweetly than they did this morning, and I will struggle to whistle back at them, matching note for note. This ambiance at this Park is something to look forward to after an over-long Winter and a Spring, which can’t seem to gain traction, much like my walking regimen sometimes.
In the meantime, I’ll share a post from last Summer of the nooks and crannies that are Council Point Park in its glory. I could have done a screen shot of a Google map which better exemplifies the 2.2 mile perimeter path and 27 acres that are my near-daily stomping grounds, but that image is copyrighted.
There is a backstory to this post. On Tuesday I told you about the rock craze that began here last year. My friend and neighbor, Marge Aubin, was housebound due to her COPD, so she spent many days painting and decorating rocks. She gave some to me to hide at Council Point, then she watched for their discovery on the Facebook Downriver Rocks site. After Marge passed away, her granddaughter brought over all her finished rocks for me to hide around Council Point Park. They were mostly small or medium-sized rocks, and I took them to the Park a few days later. I wrote a post about hiding these rocks and shared it on the Downriver Rocks Facebook site: https://lindaschaubblog.net/2017/08/18/nooks-and-crannies/
In that post, I wended my way around the Park, looking for hidey holes for those rocks in a venue which I know like the back of my hand. I thought the people who now follow this blog might like to see some places around the Park besides just where my furry and feathered friends hang out.
So now we’ll await the “real Spring” while tapping a foot or crossing our arms impatiently. Next week we will hit the 80-degree mark … the trees will suddenly leaf out and there will be no more bare branches filled with squirrels, cardinals and red-winged blackbirds, nor glimpses of downy woodpeckers. No more critter nests will be exposed as the trees will all fill in. The Park will come alive once again, and I will continue to walk there with a smile on my face and a spring in my step.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Dee “D” lightful, Linda! 🙂 Delicately done, and indelibly described!
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Thanks Uncle Tree – glad you liked it. I love, love, love alliteration – looks like you do too! 🙂
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LoL 🙂 I was doing it before I knew there was a word for it.
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I have to stop myself sometimes as I can get carried away with it. 🙂
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I loved reading about your hiding Marge’s painted rocks. That was so sweet. I’m glad you were able to see people discovering some of them, too.
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Thanks Anne, I am glad you liked it and that day was the conclusion of a long week for me, since Marge passed away suddenly (despite her illness she was supposed to come home from the hospital that day) and then fulfilling her wish. I was supposed to go next door to visit with her as my boss was on vacation all that week and I had said I’d spend a morning with her and I had not done any rocks, just hid them for her and her granddaughter, and she had saved some rocks and paint for me to create a few. After she died so suddenly, after the shock wore off, I said to myself “we were supposed to do the rocks together this week and have a visit” … your mind works strange sometimes.
I did share this story with the Downriver Rocks! Facebook Group and many of the people wrote heartfelt words about the gesture. So I was happy to do this.
My friend Ann Marie has painted many rocks and hid them and I check to see if people find them and do a screen shot for her since she’s not on Facebook. She paints her rocks white and puts an American flag on them. She’s done quite a few already and I think many people keep them as they like the design.
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I walk the same route every day, and it’s not a place anyone would place a painted rock. I wonder if people do that here.
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You should start that trend with Logan. I know they do it in other states as the two women (sisters) who created the site in March 2017 said it was popular in Florida and some other states. I mentioned in my post on Tuesday that it might be fun for AJ to try with her students. She commented later that she was going to do it with this year’s students and had done it last year, and that it was not quite as big a craze as here in Michigan. I could tell how many more people were on that Facebook site since last year – 37,000 + … I was amazed. I will send you a history of the group via e-mail, in case you are interested or know someone who may want to start a similar group there. (Actually I just sent it – or look up “Downriver Rocks!” as it is a pinned post.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1256452507776031/permalink/1288248264596455/
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I read it and kept it. Logan’s mom is very artistic, but she’s also very busy.
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Anne: I just searched on Facebook (I think you told me you were on Facebook) and there is a group in NC. I don’t know if this is anywhere near you though, but there are people here who take rocks with them to other states or Up North when they go on vacation to try to start other groups: Onslow/Jones County North Carolina Painted Rocks
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Thanks for the link. That’s marvelous!
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You’re welcome – they have fun with it – good for the kids to be creative and get outside and away from the TV and phones.
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D-pressing and D-eadly weather, but soon enough will become d-liciously warm ‘n’ wonderful!! Keep on walkin’, you amazing person!!
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🙂 Why D-o I feel the need to amend this post to add those two words? I shall keep on walkin’ … hopefully writin’ as well.
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Miss Linda…………………………today I saw the forsythia burst open on a few bushes……………………….and I saw a few hyacinths opened…………………lets………..”keep on walkin…….”
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I saw a weeping cherry in the neighborhood and one small forsythia bush … thought that was funny after writing that I hadn’t seen any yesterday. Nothing at the Park yet … I saw a few tiny leaves but they were not on trees or bushes, but on the weeds! And I have weeds! Keep on walkin’ … I did five miles this morning.
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You always write in a interesting way, so fun to read.😊 You still do not have green trees. Here everything has turned out in a week. Not full, but it shines green in nature. The weather has been bad last week with storm and rain, but it has not been cold. Hope spring will come to you soon so that it gets green in nature and warm in the air. Certainly, the weather affects the mood, you will be happy when the weather is warm and sunny.😊
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Thanks for saying that John. Over the years I have tried to make my walks seem like everyone is tagging along with me. Still no green trees, but I saw a flowering weeping cherry in the neighborhood but it was the only one. We just had a thunderstorm and rain the rest of the night/overnight and a soggy morning. I hope it does get sunny to get out and enjoy the warmth and sun – it is good for the soul. 🙂
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We’ve had a long winter here in Maryland, as well. For some reason our flowers have still come, though! We’ve got daffodils, tulips, crocuses and hyacinths already. Also plenty of dandelions. 🙂
It’s nice to have a place close to home with lots to explore.
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I saw one flowering tree in the neighborhood this morning and that happened just since yesterday and I saw a few dandelions on the walk home – they weren’t on my lawn, but they soon will be, that’s for sure.
I like that it is only a mile from my house and I just never went down that way as you need to go a longish route to get there since a school takes up an entire block. But once you are there, you forget you are in the middle of the City. Thank you for subscribing to my blog, I have been following all the interesting tidbits and your walk on Twitter so far since we connected earlier this week.
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What they did to the wonderful Native Americans was nothing short of super cruel genocide.
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Agreed – plus building casinos on sacred burial grounds. The Native Americans are the true Americans. I guess this landing at Council Point Park was a big deal when it happened … there was a big write-up and display at our City’s historical museum back in 2013 for the 250th anniversary. If you scroll to the end of this site page, you’ll see the significance: http://www.lphistorical.org/pontiac_council.html
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