On a frigid morning hike in the Allardale Park, Medina County (Ohio) Park District this morning, I happened across a touching sight. There, on the snow-covered seat of a park bench, someone had earlier used a finger to draw a “love heart.” Sweet enough, I suppose, but then we see that the bench was dedicated in someone’s memory; now this becomes a poignant scene. It turns out the person named had died six months earlier, at age 90. This will be the first winter, the first Christmas, his relatives, friends, and the parks will see without him in a long, long time. That he was loved and is missed, shown in the outline of a Valentine in snow.
allardale
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Returning from the Fairlawn shopping district, near Akron, I did a little cross-country exploration. She had collected a trail map for a little park we'd passed many times in past and it looked interesting. We'd not previously stopped so I wanted to discover what was there. With fair ease, I found the entrance to Allardale Park, we left the car and took a little walk on the one-mile trail. She hadn't planned on hiking, nor had I, but I'd brought my camera along just in case of, well, opportunities.
The day was warm, windy, and clouds ranged from thin to thick and dark. It was a very changeable situation.
The Allardale Park area was once farmland with some hills and valleys unsuited to cultivation. The late owners had planted thousands of trees over the years and gave their beloved land to the Medina County Park System for the enjoyment of all. Thank you Stan and Esther Allard, it is beautiful! The park system later added 200+ acres through purchase of adjacent lands. The mostly-earthen trail is rolling to hilly and is mostly through old woods. We saw and heard hawks in the canopy, saw damselflies and butterflies, and enjoyed the beauty of the woodlands.
In a meadow area many taller plants densely grew. Queen Anne's lace grew so tall I barely had to bend to photograph the undersides of some flower heads.
Leaving the park we headed home and passed through the little town of Hinckley. I drove past a local police car that was preparing to enter traffic — yup, legal speed and no other moving violations. The patrol car was in traffic behind me and suddenly those red and blue lights sprang to life! Eeek! What did I do? Pulled over and stopped, the officer came to the window and addressed me by name. Politely he said, "your driver's license has expired." What?! Oh, no, I'd forgot! After checking my now worthless license, the officer said, "take care of it" and let us go. Thank you!
Good thing I'd already scheduled Monday off for other reasons and that a license bureau is within walking distance!
Oh, and the tinnitus is still at low level. No improvement over yesterday but not as bad as before.