I really didn’t want to ride all that far, just enough to break the cabin fever. The first image is from last week when I spent time at my father-in-law’s grave. I believe that is an old M42 “Duster” anti-aircraft gun; you can’t see both of the twin barrels (40mm) from this angle. It was fully equipped with replacement barrels and everything. The rest are today’s shots from Barnes Park and Soldier Creek.
On my way there, I stopped to look at the site clearing where the old Target store once stood. I came up on the backside, not too far from where the loading dock once stood. Now it’s all dirt, some ten acres of asphalt removed completely. I still have no idea what the new owner plans to build there.
We are out of the deep freeze. Soldier Creek froze hard, and it looks like it might have been about an inch thick in places. Not enough to walk on, but enough to frustrate the water fowl. I passed the Senior Center and felt drawn to the shadows of tall pines out by the pavilion. There were very few people, and no kids at all, despite schools being closed for the holidays.
The little waterfall in Tom Poore Park was partly frozen, but I doubt it ever completely stopped flowing. It just didn’t freeze that hard or that long and the water level is decent. I just wish they had pushed those utility pipes a little deeper under the creek bed.
The ducks don’t seem to mix much with the Canadian Geese, but other types don’t seem to mind them. There was a spot where the ice had opened up near the bridge on Reno Avenue and it was crowded with everything except the Canada Geese. The latter were hanging out upstream with what I believe is the peak population this time of year.
Here I also saw slightly more people, too. I could hear kids playing on the fenced playground in the distance, so it felt more normal. I continued riding out the south end of the trail and headed back home.
