Today I made the spur of the moment decision to go to the park and explore.
Kent has some very pretty places. I'm sad that I haven't been able to enjoy them as much as I would have liked while I lived here.
After grabbing lunch to go at Panera, I drove out to the park and enjoyed my lunch on a park bench overlooking the Cuyahoga river. The bench was located perfectly...if I didn't know any better I would have thought I wasn't close to the city.
I was strongly reminded of my childhood visits to the many parks around northeast Ohio. On a day like today Mom would have packed up the cooler with sandwiches and drinks and we would have spent the day at any of the parks within a decent driving distance. Karl and I would run around and explore...and if there was a river that was an added bonus. When I was 7 or 8, Dad taught me how to skip rocks. I remember being so impressed by his ability to make a rock jump on the water all the way across to the bank on the other side. I was never as good at it as he was.
While I ate I observed a couple teaching a child to do the same thing. But as I did so many years ago, the little girl seemed more interested in making a large splash in the water than actually skipping the rocks.
After I was done with my food I took a walk down the Portage/Akron trail to see where it would lead me. It was a side of Kent I had not explored before, and if it hadn't been for the pollen attacking my nose I would have continued on a lot longer than I did. But I was still treated to some awesome sites along the way.
An old abandoned railroad trestle was a site I discovered along the way, a relic of a time where supplies were transported via train during a time where no other train lines ran north-south through the area. According to the sign I read, this particular trestle connected Wheeling and Lake Erie during a time when most rail lines ran east-west.
The trestle was a mix of a strange and natural addition to the scenery around me. While you could tell that it hadn't always been there and that it was different from the surrounding trees and water, it still had an old, almost timeless feel to it. The vegetation had become one with the structure, time taking its toll on a once massive symbol of America's industrialization.
As I stopped to look at it I couldn't help but wonder if this is how people in the future would view our roads and rail systems we use in today's world. Would that be how someone would someday view the very path I found myself standing on? Would there someday be historical markers talking about the interstates and highways that we drive on such a regular basis? Was I looking at a reflection of our own future in the ruins of this once glorious structure?
I continued walking and soon reached a bridge where the path crossed to the other side of the river. I decided to turn back and head back to my car, saving the trip across the bridge to see what was on the other side for another day, perhaps a day with less pollen and less heat.
We don't appreciate the beauty we find in our own backyard as much as we should. We travel at great lengths to see landmarks in far-off places...but sometimes to find nature's true beauty we need only take a few steps out our own door.
It's certainly something I will try to keep in mind.
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