Giving Credit and Applause, when it is due - The Mill River Park

I was ecstatic, yesterday walking by the park, so much so, I returned home to get my camera.

Yes, the fence causing pedestrians to walk into the street was moved a number of feet to allow pedestrian traffic to pass by.
The fence must be up due to impending construction, but it is now "West side friendly".

Why was it done?
Was it me...I doubt that...
were there others who complained?  Possibly...
Did some recognize an problem and correct it?  I would like to think so.

My honest statement?  I don't care, it was done and done by the people running the park from the

Mill River Collaborative and i am thankful

When will they ever learn?

My apologies to Peter, Paul and Mary.
This was going to be labeled "My Saturday Evening Post",
but i could not do it last night
and the title: "Sunday Evening Post" did not seem so dramatic.
It is good that i waited,
it brought me reflection, instead of anger
and reflection makes more sense to me at this point in my life.
The point you ask?
What in the world could i be going on about like this?
The waiting period was over,
the Cherry trees slated for destruction are gone
and now the concrete and metal "playground" of a carousel will happen.
The words of still another song for Joni Mitchell echo in my mind:
"Tear down paradise and put up a parking lot."
No this is not a parking lot,
but it is what we seem to like doing,
tear down the old, make it as if it is not
and put up something new,
which in a few short years,
will also be "old".
It does not matter
and as a friend says to me often;  :It is what it is".
SO be it.
I am not angry,
a bit sad, because the price of progress seems to never include the old,
but rather destroy it.

oops, they did it again!

It should be no secret that I am not a fan of how the Mill River Park is being redeveloped.  To me, too many mistakes and too many inconveniences for those on the west side of Stamford.  So they began the next phase of the project, which was to put a carousel in the park, by tearing up the sidewalk leading down town.  I spoke my peace about it and am done with that, but all that was happening, stopped suddenly.  Inquiring minds (mine) want to know why and the answer I was given infuriated me.  The plan was to tear down 2 more of the remaining cherry trees, they had removed the commemorative plaque and some one stopped them.  I want to congratulate the planners for wasting more money, creating more inconvenience and getting on everyone's nerves.  How long for a new plan?

Complaining again

I actually was unsure of which blog to put this in, so i will link it to my main blog as well and Visa versa...
Since i wrote about tall grass and ticks (the grass was cut the next day) in the Mill River Park, I figured this was appropriate.
A few days ago, after the ground breaking ceremony and a check was given to the city from the Mill River Collaborative (the city does love money coming in), a fence was put up blocking the sidewalk, with no notice and no signage saying the sidewalk was closed.  Well a few days after somewhat appropriate signage appeared (cause someone complained?) then I discovered this closure will continue for over a year.  This closure forces people, who would walk on the South side, to cross the very busy West Broad Street, which has had a number of pedestrian accidents for various reasons.
To say it makes my life difficult is an understatement and so here I go posting a complain.

http://joeykenvironmental.blogspot.com/2015/07/complaining-again.html

the fog came in ....



The forbidden bridge...again



Down River

We had a full day of fog yesterday and rain today, but there are now some pictures i will paint when life gives me time....

It was dark enough that the flash kept wanting to kick in ,but then all i got were speckles...cause of the fog!

off the forbidden bridge

A while back a state inspector declared this  "purple bridge so hazardous that it could not be used for even pedestrian traffic.  You should note one of the pictures, taken after the hurricane with all the debris back against it forcing large amount of pressure on this "unsafe" bridge.  The report written made the bridge out to be so bad that the supervisor, reading the report declared "i won't let my cat cross.  The city dutifully closed it off and with the current administration and economy, it has remained closed.

The geese still love this spot and come when called!

Mill River Park

The Mill River Park, "as is" , without carousel or ice skating rink or other man made obstruction is very inviting.



In The Early Morning!
Note the native fall flowers in purple

This is the "Purple" Pedestrian bridge - closed by a state inspector for some odd reason - note that it is with standing much debris left by the Hurricane and Tropical storm damage - much more of a problem than a few pedestrians!

The Mill River Park

So it seems there is to be some sort of ground breaking ceremony soon.
This is now the stage where they change a beautiful park into a circus 9again, the big apple was here).
The paln to put an ice skating rink and carosel and other things (that people will need to pay for to use)  Is now to begin and the beautiful park for us to enjoy will be gone...
I am not happy.

Back to Stamford

I have not left and returned, but instead of me posting more drivel of my trial and tribulations with my "Adventure", i figured to do a post on something that caused a lot of controversy, the Mill River park.
The issue with the Cherry trees is over, the ones that are going to be cut down and the ones that are left are beautiful and look right for a beginning.
For those of you who miss Cherry trees, take a walk one block to the west on Schuler Ave, in front of Sacred Heart Church and viola, you have Cherry trees of about the same age as those that were on the banks of the Mill River.
They are in full bloom and are really nice.
Pictures to prove it.


Now I disliked the Mill River for many reasons that have nothing to do with all the reasons that the Park is being re-done.
I considered this part of the Mill River a cesspool and I have the bacteria tests to prove it!
I thought it stank and was not healthy for anyone.
I thought it was the poorest way to allow drainage water to leave Stamford and go into the Sound.
The one beach that it empties in front of, has been closed for lots of reasons, and one of those was an extremely variable bacteria count that made it impossible to determine if it was ever safe to swim in.
Changing the concrete barriers to a natural river bank will do a great deal to change that.
Removing the dam will make it flow, which means fewer mosquitoes and that is a good thing.

It should have been easy...

Every Year I do David's taxes cause he just can not. Lately, I have been using TaxAct online, it is easy, $6 and quick. Today i tried it and ran into a SANFU and it was really the direct translation of the acronym.
One of his short time employers has its base headquarters in Maine. They have all the information printed multiple times as to its address.
After doing all the work, TaxAct online checks for mistakes and said the zip was wrong. I know i can make mistakes, so i re-entered the info, it was still flagged as wrong. I map quested the location and got the same zip code. They would not let me pass and file. When I went to report a problem the form to be filled out was so long, i just hit cancel and will not be using them again.

Frustration.

David was ready for a walk and I needed it. Went to the library and provided entertainment for the volunteers at the book store with my story.

By that point i was feeling better and may use the IRS site direct, but then i noticed that not all the Mill River Park Cherry trees are coming down. The ones they are removing are not that pretty and the ones they are leaving are beautiful.
This topped my morning, I think i will paint now.