When your brother gives you lemons, squeeze the juice into an ice cube tray and pop it in the freezer!
Last Sunday, that same brother, our sister and I decided to take a trip to Memorial Park. This park, created in a redwood grove, was our family's go-to day trip spot in the 70s and 80s. We'd go to swim in the creek, play kick-the-can and barbeque. We hadn't been back as a family in about 30 years.
What struck me on this visit was how small the park grounds felt. The redwoods, on the other hand, felt even more massive. The creek, previously dammed for visitors' enjoyment, now runs freely. The steelhead that spawn in the creek are helped by this move, but the we who would like to take a dip are out of luck. We took our shoes off, rolled up our jeans & waded in. The water is still icy cold just like we remembered.
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| Redwoods in formation |
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| Fallen redwood. Its bottom bits look like burl. |
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| Blackened bit of bark from a long-ago fire. Redwoods are notoriously flame retardant. |
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Age: 490; 8' in diameter.
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The largest living tree we saw in the park was recorded as being 1600 years old and 13' in diameter. It boogles the mind that a tree could still stand after so long.
Memorial Park was created in the 1920s. Many of the woods surrounding the park had been logged for timber in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Had the park not been created, I wonder how much old growth redwood forest we'd have in San Mateo Co. today.
The visitors' center included an exibit featuring taxidermied animals found in the park and the surrounding environs. Most of the specimens had a sort of Velveteen Rabbit quality to them as they dated from the mid-twentieth century. The hawk, seen below, looked to be the most well-preserved.
I'm glad to have gone back to the park with the siblings and am resolved to visit again before another 30 years pass by.
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| Red-tailed hawk |
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An interesting way of asking people not to muck about. :)
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| Old growth forest just over the bridge. :) |
What strikes me about those woods is how quiet it all is. Beautiful spot. I can see why you enjoyed it as a kid.
ReplyDeleteYou're spot on, Liz! The redwood grove is insanely quiet.
DeleteLovely park. Boggling history.
ReplyDeleteWPA workers were housed here during the Depression. Another facet of the park that is still visibly apparent.
DeleteHow lovely that while the park has shrunk the trees have grown.
ReplyDeleteI would love to spend time with those beauties...
It was a surreal realisation, EC. I'm so glad that these old beauties are nearby.
DeleteThat is my kind of trip. I juice all my lemons and freeze it in cubes.
ReplyDeleteMy brother taught me to do that with the ice cube tray! Very clever idea.
DeleteVisiting the redwoods are always the best kind of trip. :)
Don't have a brother ;-)
ReplyDeleteSuch magnificent trees, we don't have them in our country. Must have been great to visit the park again with your siblings. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thank you, Ivy. It's a rarified air around these old ones. I'm glad to have gone again with the sibs.
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