Saturday, March 21, 2009

Swede Hollow Revisited

It's been sort of a tennis marathon this week again. After our last and finest curling win on Wednesday, I've managed to play three tennis matches in three days. I'm in a minor slump, losing more games and sets than I'd like, but, at least, I haven't fallen down in a while. So after a Saturday morning session at Wooddale, Herb and I took a hike through Swede Hollow and the nature sanctuary, the same one that PP and I had visited earlier in the week. The entrance to the park, at least the one we used, has this sign announcing its presence.



There is still a lot of dry, dead plants in the Bruce Vento nature sanctuary, but some green - mostly microscopic - is beginning to emerge. I brought my camera, as did Herb, and we have a record of the early spring grayness. The park has been improved in the last three years, with the planting of new trees and some work on hiking bridges. They have also chainsawed away a great deal of buckthorn, our local invasive species champion. The blue sky behind Herb was noticeably a richer blue than the washed out blue over the city. But it was a spring day in the 50's and we were happy to have the snow begin to drain away toward the river.



More tennis tomorrow. This time at Fort Snelling, a better surface to my taste.

1 comment:

Santini said...

I like that second photo -- it looks like a pretty nice park, and a good way to spend an early spring day. You could use that spot where Herb was standing the way Gino uses the corn field, and show the progression of seasons there. Still like the name of the place, too.