Oak and Ivy Park - Great Miami River

CONDITIONS AND ROUTE

Snow and ice.  Blue sky and sun, very light breeze. 2°f.

This morning I took a 1 hour walk east towards Oak and Ivy Park, crossed Edwin C. Moses.  I dragged a blown out tire from the middle of Edwin C.

Looking West from Oak and Ivy Park at the Captain Mallory House along old West 5th Street.

Oak and Ivy Park in morning snow.  Piles of autumn leaf litter are now frozen.

Sitting between the Great Miami River and the Blvd is the Dayton Cultural & RTA Center.  On my way over to the center I passed the Sinclair Community College sustainable garden project.

Looking east towards downtown Dayton.

I went inside the Cultural Center to see what suspicious things they do in there.  Heated restrooms were present.

I then scrambled down the levy and returned west along Wolf Creek, climbing back up the levy around North Williams Street.  

INTERACTIONS

The lady working inside the RTA cultural center was very courteous and warm.  When I asked her what they do there she explained that you can purchase RTA tokens (Public Transit) as well as rent out meeting space and auditoriums contained there, though they were currently unavailable due to the construction of the new bike ramp.  

On my way along Wolf Creek two young men we walking along the top of the levy (I was walking the opposite direction along the lower bike path.  As we approach I hailed them with a "good morning".  One of them completely ignored me, the other only slightly nodded.  I can't help but wonder if there is any significance to the the silene.  To be fair it was extremely cold.  There may be a deeper reason for the poor interactions, but more often than not it seems that people are just not expecting a greeting and fail to return it in time.  

OBSERVATIONS

The Great Miami River is beginning to freeze.  The river is not very deep and I suspect that with a week or two more of cold temperatures a complete ice covering may develop.  As of now the water level is very low and ice spreads out several feet from the banks.

The Great Miami River looking south under the Third Street bridge.

Wolf Creek, being smaller than the Great Miami is further along the freezing...it may be completely frozen within the week.  I am hoping that it freezes solid because sledding down the steep levy onto the frozen creek should be fun. 

REFLECTIONS

Every trip I have taken down to the river have yielded old bricks, often broken and partially submerged in the rocks and mud.  On this trip I spotted a distinct brick (see below).  I gave it a few kicks but it frozen solid and so I walked on.  About 50 yards away I had to double back because the brick kept calling me.  I was able to dislodge of large rock and use it is a hammer to loosen to ice's grasp.  After retrieving my prize I began my return journey home.  

Hallwood Block brick found frozen in the river bank.

I decided as I walked back home with the brick that every time I make the short trip to the Great Miami river I will attempt to harvest a brick and return it home.  I haven't yet decided what I will build with them, but in my mind, there is a great beauty in this effort.  I am drawn to the legacy the bricks have.  They were not dumped here but rather made their way from some other location.  I wonder at their former lives, and the lives of those who made them, built with them, or trode upon them.