Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday My Town Shoot Out - Park Landscapes



The topic for October 30 is Park landscapes - by JarieLyn .

Paducah has lovely parks, but alas, with the four day Agility Trial over the weekend, and my book signing and reading yesterday, my plate was overfull. I'll rely on photos hiding in my computer.


We have a clever and oh so creative Parks and Rec department. They took a notion to put a skating rink in the downtown parking lot of this southern town in way Western Kentucky. I mean smack downtown, right on the River. In the photo above, granddaughter Abigail, who is on a hockey team in her city of Chicago, shows the locals a thing or two.



The majority of the locals had never worn ice skates in their lives. It was fun to watch them go from hanging on to the edge of the rink for dear life to proficient, if wobbly, independent skaters by the end of the season.

Schultz park is 55 acres of riverfront in downtown Paducah. It is at the foot of Broadway, behind our beautiful flood wall. Barges often wait here for their turns through the locks.

Sam I Am, Swede William, and Lindy Loo wait patiently for me to take the photo.



oh no let's go let's go CRAZY!!!


We worried for the park during the ice storm.


There is good reason for our flood wall.



No discussion of area parks would be complete without mention of the federal Land Between the Lakes. These were for a long time the largest man made lakes in the country. The writer's retreat I attended was held at Kenlake Park, pictured below.

Under these hauntingly beautiful waters lie towns, homesteads, graveyards.



Neighbor Allan Rhoades paints the path on the labyrinth.

And I have to brag about my neighborhood. My neighbors bought an empty lot and put a labyrinth on it. Themselves. For everyone to enjoy.
It is that magical here.
hug your hounds

13 comments:

  1. We hope your weather is better than ours, or your lovely park by the river may be a water feature soon.

    Dog behaviour looks familiar. Me and Teka act like that lots of times. Drives muzzer crazy, yes it does!

    gussie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love your dogs and their coats. They look just like my friend Dan's two greyhounds and a borzoi, the way they jump and play!
    Don't feel bad to go to the archives every now and then - posting a photo-essay every single week just isn't possible otherwise. At least for us humans.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Look at those puppies!!!! *smiling*

    Hey, I got your book! It came really fast - thankyou! I have not opened it yet to read the inscription or card...I put it directly on my nightstand and when I open it to read it, then I will read those things *smiling wide*

    Looking forward to it very much so!

    love the photos! I missed FSO because of the letter to granddaughter thing I just had to do

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have some awesome neighbours. I wondered if the adversity of the ice storm brought your community closer together? Perhaps I would have my answer at the middle of the labyrinth.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for your info. I will check out some of the things you mentioned. My second post for today was a mistake. I didn't get back in time to delete before your comment. I have only been to Paducah to private homes. Great to see some of the scenery.
    QMM

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the "let's go crazy" pic - priceless! Patience, you can be proud of your grand child Abigail!

    An interesting tidbit for her: in Holland where I'm originally from hockey is done on the field (grass), they don't have ice-hockey!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm so jealous that you have a neighborhood labyrinth and that you have neighbors who would build one. It truly must truly be a magical place!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Smiling at the Let's Go Crazy antics!!! Happy Halloween PS We ended up going out to dinner with some friends!! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. First of all: GO Abigail! Show those silly fence-hangers how to skate! Ha!

    Second of all: "Waiting patiently"? How do they do it? But then I saw your next photo and it was L-O-L time! Ed & Reub breathed a sigh of relief.

    Third: The floods are scary.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love too the "Lets go Crazy" picture!
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

    ReplyDelete
  11. I enjoyed your post very much. I especially love the photo of the park waiting for the ice storm. It is a beautiful picture. I also like the lets go crazy photo and the last photo of the labrynth. Very cool neighbors and awesome town. Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I enjoyed your post as well, and felt a chill when you said things were under the water...like a Stephen King novel line :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. We love crossing the rivers there. You are right. It is magical. And one time we need to spend more time...

    Love
    Jake and Fergi

    ReplyDelete

Love your comments! Love them we do. Don't be bashful! Thank you for visiting :-)