Inspection

A perfect November morning in Hubbard Park.

Visit #1044, Sunday 13 November 16, 9:30-11:30AM, 4.3 miles.
Temps in the mid-40's, reaching 50 today. Sunny.

During last week's fun, I found a fallen tree extending into the road near the north end of Merimere Reservoir. I notified the Meriden Parks Department in the hope they'd clear it from the road. I figured if they hadn't done so by Saturday, I'd take care of it myself. So I took a very brief walk in Hubbard Park Saturday morning to inspect and was pleased to see the tree taken care of. Later in the day I was e-mailed by Chris Bourdon, soon to be Director of Meriden's Park and Recreation Department, and told the tree was removed on Tuesday.

My thanks to Chris and his crew, because if it WASN'T done, I probably would not have been able to cut it with my chainsaw this week.

You see, yours truly had a Medtronic MRI Surescan Dual Chamber Pacemaker implanted on Friday.

The site was still sore, and no heavy lifting is permitted for six weeks. To complicate matters, the instruction book that comes with this handy device warns to stay at least "12 inches away from ignition system components in tools and equipment such as...CHAINSAWS." I better grow longer arms.

I also couldn't wear my normal backpack because of pressure and friction on the wound site. So when I kitted up for operations in Hubbard Park on Sunday, I ran a light setup.

Yes; two days after installing a pacemaker I HAD to test it out so where else but climbing the trail up to Castle Craig?! Besides; I had more inspecting to do.

Last week I received a report of broken glass in the parking lot at Castle Craig so I brought a dustpan to clean up.  On the way, I came upon this branch across the Yellow Trail. Being mindful of my one ailing arm, I used my good arm to drag the branch off the trail.

I hiked the trails up to the Halfway House where I found this new piece of graffiti which annoyed me.

I have no clue what it represents. Whoever drew this is not the only person who carries a magic marker. But why anyone would carry a magic marker just for the purpose of spontaneously creating graffiti is beyond me. Whatever it meant, it means no more.

Also at the Halfway House, I found my first sign of the approaching holiday season.

I hiked the steep trail to Castle Craig and cleaned up the surrounding area and parking lot perimeter. My inspection of the parking lot revealed no broken glass and in fact I was told the Meriden Parks Department was up at Castle Craig earlier this week and THEY swept up the broken glass. My thanks and a tip of the dustpan to them.

I then hiked the road and the trails down to the I-691 overpass where I came upon a surprise.

Normally, they mysterious person who installs the two flags on the overpass only does so once a year, roughly around Memorial Day, and they last 2-3 months. This is the first time they've been installed late in the year as well. I wonder if it's in response to the presidential election results?

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