I grew up, right up the street from this park.
When I was a kid, you would look out and all you would see was two ponds, side by side.
One, used for skating in the winter, feeding the ducks in the summer, and strolling around all year long…the other, used for fishing and for being mysterious.
Since I was a child, however, nature has grown up around the ponds, and while the man-made stone walls allow you a vision of pond #1, pond #2 is all but obscured by the brush.
While I miss the old view, the new is pretty darn beautiful, as well.
My summers were spent going to the pool, then across the street to the baseball fields to catch a Little League game, then to the park, which backed up to the fields.
Pond #2 had a little sandy peninsula that you had to crawl through the brush to access, and Gail and I spent hours and hours there, imagining, pretending, playing.
Tiny and Monkey Girl were loving the view, as it is today.
In the park stands a statue of Thomas Paine.
If you don’t know who Thomas Paine is, and you are an American, shame on you.
(And, click his name, above, to get to the Wikipedia link)
In this park stands the largest statue of Thomas Paine, in the world.
It’s beautiful.
When we were kids, there was this rumor of a mysterious woman who would come and put a rose at the base of the statue.
We were always on the lookout for her, but as far as I know, none of us ever saw her.
We did, however, always find the rose on the statue.
Anyway, happy to have introduced Tiny to the park, we decided to go on our way and return another time, when the big boys could join us.
Beautiful town and pictures, Amy. And I love the story about the Thomas Payne statue (and I do actually know who he was,lol) and the mysterious rose. Now you’ve got me really curious about who would do such a thing and why. 🙂
Comment by Michelle Cook King — July 7, 2012 @ 10:36 am |
Michelle, I feel like there was an explanation that came out about who she was, but I’ll be darned if I can remember it!
Comment by abozza — July 7, 2012 @ 3:18 pm |
Ah…. “Home Sweet Home”–the place of so many happy memories for us. Loved the sounds of summer coming from the pool and ball field and those delicious walks along the ponds whenever the mood hit us :0)
Comment by Carla — July 7, 2012 @ 7:01 pm |
It was a great part of town to grow up in, for sure!
Comment by abozza — July 7, 2012 @ 7:58 pm |