Making "Tracts"

It wasn't as cold as it looks, but winter IS here.

After last week's 2" snowfall and another scant covering on Friday night, I didn't expect to find much litter on the trails, and was afraid I'd have nothing interesting to discover and write about. But Hubbard Park never fails to deliver up a story and today would be no exception.

Thanks to Paul Bernier who joined me this week.

We entered Hubbard Park via the north end of Merimere Reservoir and walked the road up to Castle Craig. Along the roadside, stuffed into a hole in a tree, was this religious tract.

This was not the first time I've found religious material stuffed in that hole. Back in September it was also used as a "prayer bin".

Despite having snowed the night before, the road was surprisingly well-traveled. It's good to see people getting out despite the temperatures.

Paul and I reached Castle Craig and found the area peaceful, albeit with a crisp breeze.

Taking the trail down, we encountered a very large fallen tree across the trail. When it fell, it even broke the tree in the left of the photo. If the winter weather cooperates, I hope to remove it from the trail next weekend. Paul inspects the damage.

We passed by the Halfway House, continued, and picked up the road north around Merimere Reservoir.

In the past few years, a tradition has been started of some people decorating a tree on the side of the road for the Christmas holiday. This year we found the tree adjacent to Echo Point.

Besides the standard ornaments, this tree had a couple unique, handmade ones.

That's the first time I've ever been warned by a Christmas ornament!

Attached to the railing at Echo Point was a first, this wreath.

Up the road a bit, we found yet more religious tracts attached to a tree.

You would think that would be the end of it, but yet attached to another nearby tree...

Considering the frequency with which I've been finding religious tracts, and associated graffiti in Hubbard Park, this looks to becoming a chronic problem. From now on, I'm going to refer to this as religious "litter-ature".

Paul and I returned to my car with our haul of "litter-ature" for the week.