90 Acres of Cool (and then some)

Patty and I were hanging out at Manito over the weekend.  As you know, it was colder than balls out, but the park was jam packed. I guess I was caught a little off guard. I expect massive crowds all summer, but seeing this kind of throng on such a cold day was surprising. And extremely gratifying. That all these people were bundling up their families and heading outdoors to get all crazy active as opposed to hibernating in front of their televisions.

I'm once again stuck by how it's just such an overwhelmingly cool place that was set aside by some people who totally cared not only about their own quality of life, but that of future generations. And how there are so many dedicated people committed to preserving it, in all it's coolness, and making sure it's available to everyone. We're a lucky bunch of bastards, you and me.



Looking down over Duncan Garden.  That's a group of x-country skiers in the foreground and another group farther off in the distance.



There were ski tracks cut all the hell over everywhere.  Beautiful.



Patty, looking all cross-country-cool, and showing off her new white gloves.

This is not a great pic, but that's a guy riding his sidecar motorcycle through the park on a frigid, sunny day.  Damn, that rocks!  He had a passenger and I imagine it was his grandson, but that's just the romantic in me.  I  could be right, though.

The park staff has plowed a path through certain areas.  Runners were using it and yes, you could bike here. That's a family on snowshoes way up the road.

These guys are clearing a skating rink on the duck pond.  There's another guy that's hard to see, but he's behind the tree branch and clearing a separate rink of his own.

A bit to the east, these guys had long ago fnished clearing and had their game on.

Staging atop the big sledding hill.

It was bumpy and rock-hard.  Nobody was complaining.

This pic is too krappy to make out the details, but that's a home-brew sled made out of two old skis.  It had a cushioned seat and it was boss.  (I think I may have finally found a use for  that old word and those old skis I've been saving for all these years.)

Dogs dig parks, but especially in winter.  The tail's hard to distinuish because it's wagging at about 500 Hz.