Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Further into the abyss-Keith L




This time I went further into the park only seeing that there is more swamp-land. I looked for the mini volcanoes that Tim had found but i couldn't find them but the park makes me feel as if it needs a fan boat and some good ole boys going gator hunting. I don't think that this park really represents what natural Missouri looks like, which is what i believe a park should do. this represents what looks like Mississippi.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Struggle in the Park--Chris


There seems to have been a struggle in the park. Was it the snakes Tim has been seeing? Could it have been a dog or cat from the neighborhood? I don't know, but it looks like a massacre of some blue birds happened at the park. Id there a Sherlock among us? I don't think there will be to much of a case though, no body!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Allergies--Keith L



I Hate allergies..HATE..Went to the park and decided to leave. It was greener and looks better than it did in the winter however, it is still a flood area. I was going to study there in my truck but my allergies are so bad right now. I'm surprised i could keep the camera steady while i was sneezing.
The story i read was something John Steinbeck wrote about how to correctly observe nature. It was interesting and i can see a trend that this section of stories seems to be more deep in thought and reflection than the first half of this semester's stories.

Monday, April 19, 2010

"A Very Warm Mountain"--Tim

Keeping with the Volcano theme this week I read "A Very Warm Mountain" By Ursula K. LE Guin. A Story about the eruption of Mount St Helens. This story caught my eye for two reasons; the first,volcanos are currently in the news and the second reason was I watched the eruption of Mount St Helens while sitting on the tailgate of my fathers truck. Watching an eruption of this magnitude is something that I will never forget.

Volcanos in the park--Tim

I stopped by the park during my lunch break on Thursday, not many people there as usual. Stayed close to the truck while eating my lunch. Then I cleaned up some trash in the main lot; and chased a couple of snakes out of the trickle of water left running out from under the parking lot. I then went to the third parking lot and wandered around the remaining swampy water near the road. I have noticed a few times while at the park that there are little volcanos of mud near the edge of the water. Are they frogs? Are they crawdads? Does anyone know? Curiosity has gotten me,I might have to take a shovel next time.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Aldo Leopold, "Marshland Elegy"--Tim

I read "Marshland Elegy" by Aldo Leopold this week, mainly because the title reminded me of our park. After I started to read about the low hanging fog and the dew the story took me back to the first couple of visits to the park. The story talks alot about cranes, whereas our park is full of Canandian geese. In the end, like our park, the government destroyed it.
I would recommend this to those who enjoy bashing Rabbit Run Park.

All Alone in the Park--Tim

I went to the park this morning. My kids are back in school so I had no company today. I parked in the farthest lot from the entrance. I noticed, as I was driving through that the water had receded quite a bit, at least the parking lot was dry. After parking I immediately went to work filling my trash bag. It is sad to realize how much people dont care about nature, I have been filling trash bags for weeks now and still I have no problem topping of a new bag each week.
While searching near the water line I noticed that someone was careless with fire, probably a cigarette, and had at some point started a small brush fire. The burn mark only covered a small area, but with the dry underbrush and the amount of branches lying around it could have been alot worse.
The ball fields look as though they have been freshly groomed in anticipation of the up-comming little league season. Maybe that will bring more visitors and I wont feel so alone in the park.

Living at the end of time-Keith L

When reading living at the end of time i found myself scratching my head a lot. It is a deep story but rather confusing. Wouldn't really recommend reading it but i wanted read a story out of the Left foot right foot comparison section
Also went to the park and saw two people playing basketball and it was still flooded. Even after not having much rain this place still collects water. Maybe they should put a lake in this place and have a floating outdoor classroom....

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Note to Reader--Keith

I read note to reader which is from Seton. He writes on how close we are to animals and uses his stories on real animals to personify the animal and make us feel more empathetic toward them. It is nice short read.
When i went to the park after my Chem. class, it seemed rather nice out as far as the weather goes, or it may have been the double dose of my moms prescription allergy medication. However the park still seemed like a wasteland. Either way the weather is getting nicer but the park does not look as nice as my own backyard.

Creepy Crawlies--Tim

I took my girls to the park again yesterday. They both accepted the Walmart bags without question. This time we decided to leave the parking area and walk the path to the lake. My little one (Kayla) was running around picking up trash, happy to fill her bag. My other daughters(Hannah) focus was not on the trash but on the occasional bee that in her opinion was in full attack mode and out to get her. Several times I had to stop her from running back to the truck, she was not happy. While Hannah was looking to the skies, Kayla noticed that the water was full of frogs and turtles and she wanted to catch them all. After several attempts and some soggy feet she gave up. When we reached the lake Kayla found a snake and Hannah found the end of the trail, "Well, thats it, time to go back!" She exclaimed. When we turned right onto the new path her excitment quikly departed, but after seeing the truck in the distance she knew that the park torture would soon be over. Soon two bags were full, a couple of people who passed said that picking up trash was a great idea, doubt if I will see them with a bag next time, maybe? We continued through the parking lots and filled the final bag. When we got back to the main parking lot we washed our hands in the bathrooms which are finally open. The park is changing and I know it is a little cleaner.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Spring in the Park---Chris

I went to the park today to check things out and was pleasantly surprised to see over twenty kids there playing. Some were playing in the playground, others were just running around playing tag. The ones that got my attention the most reminded me of myself when I was young, they were crawdad fishing and just playing around in the stream. I spent a lot of my time when I was young playing in the local creek or walking down to the river to go fishing. Seeing this and the weather is making me want to get out and go hiking and camp for a couple nights. i may just do that the next three day weekend I can get off from work, that is if I can get my homework done before I go.