Bringing Out My Inner Artist

My canvas.

Visit #860, Thursday 10 April 14, 7:15-7:45PM, 0.5 miles.
Temps in the 50's, clouding up.

Visit #860, Friday 11 April 14, 4:50-6:10PM, 3.0 miles.
Temps in the high 50's, intermittent showers.

Visit #861, Saturday 12 April 14, 8:05-9:45AM, 1.0 miles.
Temps in the low 50's, sunny.

Visit #862, Sunday 13 April 14, 6:55-8:05AM, 1.0 miles.
Temps in the low 50's, mostly cloudy.

Last week I reported painting over some graffiti in Hubbard Park. This week I utilized the full palette of my painting skills.

On Thursday I stopped in Hubbard Park to conduct some covert operations. While waiting for the cloak of darkness, I walked a brief loop around the Soap Box Derby track and the road from Castle Craig and put myself to good use. The result was a bag of trash.

Picking up trash was going to eat into my time at the "easel" this weekend, so when the opportunity arose to return to the park on the way home from work on Friday, I seized it and walked the road from the park to the north end of Merimere Reservoir and back, picking up trash.

That trash bag is blue because, while driving from work to the park, I realized I had no trash bags in my truck, so I stopped at the supermarket to pick some up.

With the trash duties out of the way, I turned my attention to the spillway at the north end of Merimere Reservoir.

Last fall and winter, I reported of some persistent graffiti being painted on the jersey barriers above the spillway. By being persistent in covering it up, I reasoned I could deter the vandals. Well, it worked-sort of.

It appears they gave up on the highly visible real estate of the jersey barriers and relocated to the less accessible reaches of the spillway.

The graffiti on the right is only a couple weeks old; that on the left has been there for years.

So, on Saturday I grabbed my supplies and parked at the north end of Hubbard Park for the short walk to the site, hence the paltry 1 mile listed above.

I was also low on paint, and REALLY scraped the fumes from the can trying to cover all of the above. Needless to say, I wasn't satisfied.

Before I left, I took advantage of the dry spillway area and picked up trash, which I carried away to my truck.

Included in my haul were the graffiti artist's tool of the trade.

Off to the paint store I went, to restock and prepare for Sunday.

Early Sunday morning I picked up where I left off, and covered most all of the graffiti on the spillway. Anything left will wait until my next commissioned piece of art.

While all this was going on, I can hear and see a city owned vehicle driving by, which I thought odd.

When I finished, I poked my head up to road level to discover a table and chairs set up on the road just past the spillway. It took me a couple minutes to figure out the Meriden Rotary Club was hosting a road race in Hubbard Park and the turnaround for the 5k race was near the table and chairs.

So my cleaning of the road on Friday coincidentally benefited the city, the Rotary Club, and the runners. How cool is that?

Springtime Housekeeping

Unique find of the week; a frying pan with bullet holes in it.


Visit #858, Thursday 3 April 14, 6:20-7:30PM, 2.7 miles.
Temps in the high 50's, greying skies.

Visit #859, Saturday, 5 April 14, 8:40-11:45AM, 7.2 miles,
Temps in the low 50's, sunny.

During last Saturday's activities, I'd spotted some graffiti that was on a rock I'd previously painted. I stopped by Hubbard Park after work on Thursday and re-covered it.

I unloaded my painting gear and went to work.

I was hoping the gloss and the stripe effect would mellow out once the paint dried. When I checked back on Saturday, it was fine.

Just up the trail was another rock similarly decorated. I covered it as well, but in my haste to beat the daylight, I failed to take a "before" photo.

I hiked a clockwise loop and made it back to the parking lot in the dark. Nevertheless, I managed to pick up some trash during my brief trip.

On Saturday I had the benefit of the assistance of Paul Bernier, who partnered with me to pick up trash and clear some of the trails from fallen trees and branches.

After picking up trash for a few hours you can get a little loopy and the talk always turns toward litterers and trash. It's enough to cause one to, wait for it, MAKE A COMMERCIAL! This was all Paul's idea ;-)

Our route took us from the playground to the north end of Merimere Reservoir via the road. Enroute, we filled 2 bags and left them by the roadside for the parks department to collect later.

At the north end, we consolidated 2 more bags along with a hub cap, and left them as well for Monday collection.

 We picked up the Blue Trail and hiked all the way to Castle Craig, down, then over I-691 and back to the park. Winter had dropped some things across the trails that needed removal, and a chainsaw was called for. Here's a collection of before and after shots.

Back at the park, we dropped off our last bag of trash for the day. Thanks again to Paul Bernier for his company and assistance.

No More "Fending Off Boredom"

The last of the season's snow on Hubbard Park's trails.

Visit #856, Thursday 27 March 14

Visit #857, Saturday 29 March 14, 7:15-9:15AM, 5.5 miles.

Temps in the high 40's, impending rain this afternoon.

Last week I reported finding an orphaned letterbox and taking it home, in the hope of contacting the caretaker. By the way, here are the contents:

I did not get a reply, so I took it upon myself to follow the clues to the letterbox and try to place it back in its home. This is actually the very first time I've "gone letterboxing" or in my case, REVERSE letterboxing. I snatched the directions from the web site and with a little time before work one day last week, returned the letterbox to its rightful home-I hope.

 I covered it with some branches to make it less conspicuous to the casual observer, and I was done.

I'm also pleased to report the bag of trash and vinyl siding scraps I left at the gate across from Belmont Avenue last week were collected, thanks to the Meriden Parks Department.

On Thursday I decided to take a short mountain bike ride through the park to scope out some of the trails and give me an idea of where I should focus my labors the coming weekend. With the end of the snow and the warming temps, there is definitely an uptick in activity on Hubbard Park's trails as evidenced by the amount of trash I spied. That likely means for the rest of the season I won't be bored and hopefully neither will you, dear reader.

 After my short ride, I knew where to find the goods this weekend, as you shall shortly see.

On Saturday, knowing I'd likely wind up with a heavy load, I left my first, partially filled bag of trash at the water treatment plant.

I then hiked my way to all the trails below Castle Craig, planning a route with as little doubling back as possible. My main objective was the Halfway House. During my recon on Thursday, I'd discovered someone apparently spent the night there; someone who is not in very good health.

The night guest, who is a Meriden resident I'll only reveal as "Martin" from his abandoned prescription bottles (full name redacted from the labels), left his blanket and a leather jacket at the Halfway House.

He also felt he no longer needed to treat his epilepsy,

...nor his skin conditions,

But at least he followed good sterile protocols while caring for himself.

All this was too much for one trash bag so I wound up carrying 2 bags for the remainder of my counterclockwise trip.

Even though it looks wet outside in the photos, it wasn't raining at the time. My early start enabled me to beat the rainfall as was part of my plan.

Who's The Nut Job?

Mirror Lake on a raw, early March Sunday morning.

Visit #855, Sunday 23 March 14, 7:25-9:15AM, 4.2 miles.
Temps in the low 30's, overcast.

Only a nut job would leave a perfectly warm bed early on a cold Sunday morning to pick up trash. Well, I guess I qualify! But what would make me so nutty?

Milan-San Remo, that's what.

Milan-San Remo is the first "classic" single day bike race on the european professional racing calendar. Held along the coast of Italy and 182 miles long, this is usually a race suited for the sprinters, and today's edition was no exception.

And I wasn't the only nut job as today's Milan-San Remo was held in a constant, raw, rain and only nut jobs would race, let alone ride, in such weather.

Enjoy the final kilometers:

I wanted to get home early enough to watch the race on the internet so I shifted into nut job mode (which some would argue is normal for me anyway) and got an early start on my duties.

I was on-call so I stuck close to the park, starting adjacent to the playground and walking west, covering all the trails on the south side of I-691. By the time I reached West Main Street, across from Belmont Ave., I had a full bag of trash. I also discovered the lock to the gate had been cut. I left the bag, and stacked some vinyl siding I found lying nearby. I'll contact the Meriden Parks Department to pick everything up and put a new lock on the gate.

I turned around and pointed myself back toward the park. Enroute I discovered a letterbox that was apparently left in the open (they're usually discreetly placed). Not knowing where it belonged, I took it home and did a little internet sleuthing. Once I learned the identity of the owner, I e-mailed them to see whether they want me to "best guess" where it belongs from the directions, or place it somewhere for the owner to return it to its rightful location. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

Back at the park, I found the unusual leftovers of a fire someone had perhaps started in one of the fireplaces.

Who knew there was an alternative spelling for "chimneys"?!

I stopped at my truck, dropped off the box and my second bag of trash, then opened a third. I walked from the Soap Box Derby Trail up to the reservoir then turned around (I didn't want to be late for Milan-San Remo!) and walked the road back to the park, depositing my collection for the day.

Quiz question: So who won Milan-San Remo this year?!

The Winter That Just Won't Go Away

Looks like Merimere Reservoir will have ice in April. Amazing.

Visit #854, Saturday 15 March 14, 2:35-4:10PM, 4.3 miles.

Temps in the high 30's with a high, raw wind.

I walked the road almost all the way to Castle Craig then hiked a trail down and over I-691 and back to the park. Walking on the snow covered trails is slow and messy.

Trash remains light as the weather and snow covered trails deter most foot traffic.

The Slow March of Spring

The snow that just won't go.

Visit #853, Sunday 9 March 14, 2:55-4:35PM, 3.3 miles.
Temps in the 30's with a raw wind. Sunny.

The snow lingers on the trails, limiting traffic and trash.

I walked a clockwise loop and saw no reason trekking far and wide; there would be little to find.

Most of the trash I picked up this week was in fact from within the park, including a flat screen TV that was dumped there. Who would have thought this technology was disposable already?

I may give the trails a few more weeks of a break before I return to them.

Fending Off Boredom

Just a few geese waiting for some free grub.

Visit #852, Sunday 2 March 14, 11:05AM-12:15PM, 2.9 miles.
Temps in the low 40's, cloudy.

The last few weeks have been spent policing trails covered in snow. Snow covered trails tend to dissuade people from hiking on them, so litter is not to be found. You'd think I'd be happy. Instead, I'm bored. I shouldn't complain...

So to fight the boredom of not finding litter on the trails, I stepped outside my boundaries this week and stayed within the park proper. I walked all the roads in Hubbard Park that were free of snow and picked up trash.

From the lower pond to the playground, the water treatment plant, the former greenhouse, and around Mirror Lake, I managed to rack up almost 3 miles in just over an hour.