Forgetfulness

 It was HUMID out there on Saturday. The shroud over East Peak did burn off about an hour later, when I reached the peak views.

Visit #1205, Saturday 3 August 19, 7:20-10:40AM, 5.4 miles, 7.6 lbs. of litter.
Temps in the 70's, sunny and very humid.

I returned to Hubbard Park this weekend to remove a few fallen trees on the trails.

After I parked the car and began to get my gear together, I realized I forgot my camera and my waterbottle. Well; that wasn't going to do me any good. So I drove home, and as soon as I entered the house and began to look around for it, I realized THE CAMERA WAS IN MY POCKET!

I still forgot the waterbottle.

So what I'm going to do is lean real close to your computer or whatever device you're reading this blog on, so you can dope slap me. Just whack the side of your PC or phone good and hard; I deserve it!

I proceeded a couple hundred feet, behind the bank of daffodils, to tackle my first objective.

These cut up real quick.

 I turned around and headed up the road around Merimere Reservoir. With the Puerto Rican Festival scheduled for Sunday, special parking rules in Hubbard Park are in effect.

It also appears the "No Parking" signs are a desirable item.

As I reached the north end of Merimere Reservoir, I noticed someone forgot their summer reading list.

I wondered why someone would toss their books away like this. Well, not really-I could understand why ANYONE would toss a Nora Roberts novel! As for the "Why Me? - Totally True Embarrassing Stories"; that sounds like my biography so I kept that book for later reading.

Crossing the north end of the reservoir, I picked up the trail and hiked toward the fallen tree I discovered a couple weeks ago.

As I hiked up the trail, I spied something I hadn't before, after many trips up this trail.

Not an antique, it was likely forgotten by mountain bikers who several years ago were building a trail berm adjacent to where I found the shovel. I had dismantled the berm and they likely gave up any idea of rebuilding it. My hands and backpack were full enough today so I will return next week to take the shovel home and possibly restore it, just for fun.

Shortly beyond the shovel was my third tree.

Removing this tree took a little more time as I was constantly wiping sweat out of my eyes and swatting mosquitoes.

 Done here, I chose to retrace my steps and hike the Blue Trail up the ridgeline to Castle Craig. I use this trail infrequently so I might as well inspect it while I have the chainsaw with me. I trimmed the trail with my loppers but the chainsaw was not needed.

I returned to the park and dropped off my trash for the week.

As I did so, I discovered where those discarded books came from.

Meriden now has a Little Free Library kiosk in Hubbard Park, adjacent to the playscape. With someone's creativity, they built it to look like Castle Craig. What a great idea; grab a book while your kids are playing. Books beat Hubbard Park's free Wi-fi any day.

Inside, it was packed with more Nora Roberts novels...

The summer weather continues through Sunday, and much of next week. Enjoy it!