In The Weeds

 

Well, at least I got into it BEFORE the season's weeds sprouted.

Visit #1356, Saturday 26 March 22, 8:45-11:30AM, 1.8 miles, 20.2lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 50's, sunny but clouds moving in, with possible showers in the afternoon.

First, a huge thanks to the Meriden Parks Department. Last week I reported a lot of trash was floating in Mirror Lake, where currents pinned the ugliness to a north wall. I considered cleaning this up myself but was lacking the appropriate tool, which I thought would be a pool skimmer. Well, I mentioned the problem to Meriden Director of Parks and Recreation Chris Bourdon and he sent his crew to the spot not with just a pool skimmer, but with an Arnold Schwarzenegger industrial sized pool skimmer! My informants told me it was impressive to watch, as were the results:

Last Week:

This week:

This week I would do a little mucking about in the water myself but without any Arnold Schwarzenegger-sized equipment.

Before the banks of two brooks flowing through Hubbard Park get crowded with weeds, I would clean the banks on both sides.

One brook flows from Merimere Reservoir, past the site of the old petting zoo, to where it merges with Crow Hollow Brook near West Main Street. I would start near the petting zoo spot and wind my way to where Notch Road exits Hubbard Park.

Wearing muck boots and coveralls, I was equipped for ALMOST anything.

Just about reaching the Grecian Temple, I had filled one bag of litter so I dropped it off and opened another one.

At Notch Road I crossed the brook in my waterproof muck boots and started cleaning up the opposite bank. But my muck boots weren't quite tall enough and at one point took on water! I had to remove the boot and wring out my sock.

GRAPHIC IMAGE FOLLOWS, INCLUDING PARTIAL NUDITY

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

I dropped off a second bag of trash at the Grecian Temple on the return trip.

If only this century-plus old walkbridge could talk...

I reached the end of my work without getting my feet wet again.

But my work pales in comparison to the story I'm about to tell.

Nearing completion of today's fun, I met a man who remarked if I were an Eagle Scout I must be earning a Merit Badge. During the conversation that followed, I learned a lot.

Joe (not his real name) is a life long Meriden resident, who told me his story of how he moved from Guilford as a child, and from 14-17 years of age, helped his father build a house in Meriden. After graduating from Wilcox with a certificate in machining, he worked in an apprenticeship program with the City of Meriden. When the apprenticeship ended, so did his deferment, and he was drafted in to the Army and sent to Vietnam.

In Vietnam he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne, and spent his time on night ambushes or night time 81mm mortar grid barrages. He slept with his M60 machine gun. Two Purple Hearts. One day, after a night of dropping mortars on a map grid, a Vietnamese woman approached their camp, dumping the body of her dead husband in front of him and blaming the camp for his death.

Joe's wife was his "bedrock" who kept his PTSD at bay. But his wife died around Thanksgiving last year, and her death removed the backstop to his PTSD. He's being treated by the VA, and part of his therapy is walking in Hubbard Park every day.

Lastly, his wife's grandmother was a Hubbard from Middletown, where Walter Hubbard was born.