Pease Park after dark
I recently returned to Kingsbury Commons at Pease Park to see the Treehouse and other new features after dark. It turns out, nighttime Pease Park may be even better than daytime Pease Park! (Click for my first visit to Pease). I mean, look at the Treehouse, glowing like a sort of organic space pod.
Other visitors were taking pictures too, trying to capture the firefly glow of hanging lights above the net. The net was closed off that evening, but you could still explore the upper ramp or hang out below.
Under the net, a few people were sitting on the rocks and enjoying the atmosphere. Shadows crosshatched from the net above patterned us and the rocks.
The splash pad was glowing magenta thanks to creative lighting. I noticed that the rocks in the naturalistic “beach” in the center have been cemented to the ground, most of them anyway. When it first opened, the rocks were piled loosely, and, well, I can guess how that worked out. I like that a few small piles are still available to play around with though. Here’s a place where it’s OK to stack rocks into cairns. (Read how rock stacks in wild places are detrimental to wildlife.)
The park’s New Deal-era picnic tables have a festive biergarten look now, with rows of newly planted trees supporting string lights.
It’s a beautiful spot for an outdoor party. Bring on Oktoberfest! As soon as covid-safety allows, of course.
To see more of Pease Park’s newly redesigned Kingsbury Commons, in the daytime, click here for my July visit.
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Digging Deeper
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What an interesting set up. I would like to see that in person.
It’s something different!
Thanks for the heads up about rock stacking. I have never taken any out of a riparian area, but I wonder if even making dry land cairns sets a bad example.
Yes, I understand it does, Paula. Lizards, snakes, and other critters use rocks for shelter, and it disrupts habitat there too. Plus it can interfere with old directional cairns, I read. And as one cairn gives permission for others to copy and make more, it becomes like names etched into a cliff face or tree trunk — just so much human “tagging” instead of letting nature be nature. I used to think they were creative and interesting to come across, but rock stacking is so ubiquitous nowadays, and so many articles have been written asking people to stop marking up trails and beaches, that my feelings about it have changed.
I am glad you posted the info about cairns, somehow I have missed articles about their negative effects. I live in a town called Rockport, but it should have been called Sandyport, as there’s not a rock in sight, only oyster shells when I dig. I am enamored with rocks though and have been guilty of moving, stacking and collecting them on past trips to visit family in New England, where there are rocks everywhere you look. I have learned something new today, and it does make sense, thanks for making me aware!
Sorry to be a fun-sucker on this issue, Heidi. 😉 I’ve enjoyed them in the past too but have become convinced about leaving things alone. Too much of a good thing turns out to be a bad thing.
Leave no trace is a good motto.
Indeed it is.