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The scene in my back yard Sunday morning. I made a wise decision to hike on Saturday.

Visit #1569, Saturday 13 December 25, 3:15-4:40PM, 4.0 miles, 5.7 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30s, darkly cloudy, with snow developing overnight.

Last week I performed an annual cleaning of the slope behind the playscape. Another annual cleaning I do is the slope below Castle Craig, where people strangely enough like to toss their cans, bottles, and whatnot. My Saturday schedule precluded my typical early morning jaunt so late afternoon, with dwindling daylight, would be all that was available. I also knew that if the forecast was accurate I wouldn't be able to see any litter on the slope if the snow stuck around so I had to take advantage of the ground while I could see it.

Down by Merimere Reservoir I found this jar.

What it says on the top is, "Take A Look- Leave a Remember (sic) Look In Gnome". What it says on the jar is, "Leave Me Something For Someone Else To Find".

Here are the contents.

The coupon was for a free taco from Taco Bell; The pink coin was for a free ice cream cone from Ryder's Ice Cream on West Main Street; the silver coin had the Ten Commandments printed on it, and the multi-colored thing on the upper left was the gnome.

I didn't collect much litter from the slope because I was pressed for daylight.

My keen eyes spotted a candy cane inked on a rock.

More of the endless stream of foam stickers mentioning me. This is just one of many removed today.

Season of the Missing Glove 2025/25, entry #6.

These religious tracts were protected from the impending snow and conveniently resting on a rock.

And I found not one, but TWO unopened cans of Mad Elf Ale. Sorry for the blurry photo. I wonder who they hire to design the can's artwork?

I returned to the parking lot at almost dark, and with the line of cars queueing up to view the Christmas lights extending quite far.

The Wr(e)ath of (Wo)Man

 Visit #1568, Sunday 7 December 25, 7:25-10:55AM, 3.7 miles, 77.0 lbs. of trash.

Temps in the low 30s to start and cloudy, rising quickly to the comfortable low 40s by end, sunny.

I love me a Jason Statham action movie, Wrath of Man being the most recent. He's coming out with a new movie in January 2026, Shelter. I'm in!

Wreath of (a) Woman - is slightly different.

I was contacted by a Hubbard Park visitor traumatized by the wreath on display above the fireplace at the bandshell. It nagged at her. She couldn't sleep because of it.

It didn't have a bow. Nothing. A plain wreath.

Well, leave Christmas decorations up to men and what do you expect?! You'll get beer cans for tree ornaments, a string of garland over the big screen TV, and a green and red condom in place of mistletoe.

She was afraid to freelance and put up a bow herself without permission. So I contacted the parks department overlord and was given the green light. I'm serious; the citizen was thrilled. She braved the cold rain earlier this week hoping to avoid scrutiny and completed her mission. I can report she is sleeping soundly now.

Today was my annual cleaning of the bank behind the playscape, adjacent to I-691.

I was surprised to find the state had taken a brush hog to the upper part of the bank making it easier to navigate and to pick up junk.

I worked left to right across the top, then dropped down and finished right to left.

Interesting finds:

I redacted the SSN number.

Bonus: The animal trap came complete with a dead animal!

I brought everything to the dumpster.

Almost forgot; I found Season of the Missing Glove 2025/26 Entries #3 and 4.

Finally, I'm a little late but I welcome new city councilors Diadette Hernandez, John Hauselt, Sarah Taylor, and Kirsten Misner to my blog. I hope I got their e-mail addresses right!

Sticker Shock

 

Guess how many of these stickers I found this week. 

Visit #1564, Thursday 27 November 25, 7:05-9:10AM, 3.0 miles, 9.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 40s, sunny.

Visit #1565, Friday 28 November 25, 7:00-7:30AM, mileage and litter n/a.

Temps in the low 30s, sunny.

Visit #1566, Saturday 29 November 25, 1:45-2:00PM, mileage and litter n/a.

Temps in the low 40s, sunny

Visit #1567, Sunday 30 November 25, 7:20-10:00AM, 3.6 miles, 5.9 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 40s, overcast with rain developing midday.

First, an issue of importance.

While in Hubbard Park this week, on a SUNNY MORNING, I noticed the Christmas lights were on. In fact the same was true on all my visits. It appears the Christmas lights don't shut off during the day. I would think the lights would only turn on at sundown. I checked a couple of the electrical sub panels and did not see a light sensor on them.

The klieg lights at Castle Craig appear to be connected to a light sensor mounted on the outside of the electrical service. It's practical and cost effective.

It's possible all the sub-panels are connected to a main panel with a light sensor, which would be connected to a relay and either one of those have failed. Such an arrangement would be even more cost effective rather than a sensor and relay at every sub-panel. Mechanical timers such as the older but popular Intermatic brand would be a less efficient alternative. Intermatic also sells photo controls as well (hint, hint). I have a low voltage contractor's license so I know a little about this stuff.

In any event, it seems the City of Meriden is wasting money having the displays lit up 24 hours. If there's a fault with the system it should be corrected. If not, I recommend installing photo sensors and relays if not at the sub- panels then at a common main panel. I'll mention this to park management.

So how many stickers did I find during this holiday weekend? How about twenty-one?

I removed all that I found.

Then I kept finding stickers etc. with my name. But I want to know - who's that other person, "asshole"? 😊

I removed those as well.

These were interesting finds. I'd like to meet Mike and Steve. I received a report of other people removing signs, stickers, and nails from trees. Good for them.

I also found and erased twelve pieces of graffiti. Here are just a few of them.

I also found Cat Graffiti entries 18 and 19 since November 2016, and removed them as well.

I removed a number of ornaments hanging from trees.

This last one says "Stop taking off". I wonder who that is addressed to?!

But the big find on Thanksgiving Day was this.

This tire was found after someone else freed it from many decades of rest near Crow Hollow Brook. Probably once they discovered it filled with mud and too heavy to move, they gave up. I managed to get it across the brook, up the bank, and rolled it back to the park. It took 17 minutes. An excellent lower back and aerobic workout, I might add.

But wait, there's more!

On Thursday's hike perhaps the same person found ANOTHER tire, one which was already on my long term agenda to retrieve, and they did the same thing; They got the tire to the trail and left it there. Fortunately, this tire/rim combination was light enough to carry, but on Friday I moved it a much longer distance than Tire #1.

I'm sure these tires were eyesores for park visitors. I'm glad they were removed by Saturday.

It was while wrestling with Tire #1 on Friday that I spied some elaborate graffiti on a rock in Crow Hollow Brook.

So on Saturday I took a bike ride and stopped by to cover it with spray paint.

I wasn't satisfied with the color -too light- so on Sunday I returned with something darker.

Despite four trips to Hubbard Park, Friday's and Saturday's trips did not consume a lot of time and Saturday's stop was in conjunction with a bike ride, a double win.

Back On The Chain Gang

 

That explains it!

Visit #1563, Sunday 23 November 25, 6:40-9:25AM, 5.9 miles, 4.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 20s to start, sunny.

Going back to last week, you'll recall someone who takes exception to my work in Hubbard Park wrote my name on a log I cut and removed from the trail. They had previously advised me that I should paint over that cut.

I returned on the same weekend and obeyed.

Fast forward to this week; I drive to the park only to discover all the entrances blocked off with jersey barriers. I panicked, then remembered this happens once a year when the parks department readies for the Christmas light display, as my memory was jogged by the display at the top of the blog. Thank goodness there was parking available at the skate house. It pays to be an early riser in this instance because that parking lot is sure to get filled up.

And it was upon parking that I see the skate house is getting a SERIOUS refresh. Looks like top to bottom and if I had to guess even the stone work is being tidied up. This is going to look fabulous when complete.

And just where do all those Christmas lights come from? Upon completing my hike and walking through the park, I was picking up litter as I went and found my answer.

That empty box went in the dumpster.

I hiked up behind the water treatment plant and found this pile of chain link fencing I'd never noticed before even though I have passed this location countless times.

I certainly wasn't going to leave it there so I dragged it over to the water treatment plant entrance and hoped the water department employees would take it away. I said I HOPED-I mean; placing it right in front of the gate would ensure it would get addressed, no?

Up the trails I went, stopping at the Halfway House to admire (and remove) what that person who takes exception to me has left.

I know you've been eagerly awaiting this; The Season of the Missing Glove 2025/26 has begun!

Entries #1 and 2 were found at Castle Craig, and will make their way to Goodwill once they dry out.

On to the trail where last week I found two newly fallen trees which needed removal.

All that, still working with a borrowed chainsaw. My chainsaw has been repaired and is ready to be put back in to service next time it's needed. Fact is, the local, top rated Stihl chainsaw dealer took four weeks to conclude they could not repair it. I learned of a Meriden individual who is obsessed with repairing Stihl chainsaws and runs a side business doing so. Fact: he fixed my saw in under one hour.

I left the trail and followed the road back toward the park, stopping at the south end of Merimere Reservoir. This traffic cone you see has been abandoned for so long I got tired of looking at it.

I got this great idea: I'll put it with the chain link fencing at the water treatment plant.

When I reached the gate I could see it was open and a vehicle parked in the lot. YOU WOULD THINK they would have put the fencing in the back of the truck...

Nope.

As I was walking back through the park to the skate house and my vehicle, I spied some graffiti in an unusual location, on a curb.

Removing this was easier than dragging that chain link fencing.

With Thanksgiving coming up, Hubbard Park will be a great location to walk/hike off those extra calories. Perhaps I'll see you there.