Author Archives: Ronald Parks

Cromwell Park

27 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by in Hiking, nature

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Saturday it was a nice day for a walk in the park, followed by a visit to the Greek Festival. Kathy’s friend’s dog Jay joined us.

First stop was to check on the renovated lime kilns. Amazing job these guys have done.

This is what it looked like in 2006.

And then in 2011 when they were just starting to work on them.

Now and…

Then.

Another shot from back then.

Our favorite little house has gone thru some changes over the years. This is 2015.

This was last year. I asked what happened to the windows and they said they took them out to restore. I like that they removed the weeds from around the house but…

This was Saturday and it is all growing back. Sad.

New benches around the park.

And a new foot bridge.

A new pond.

Jay and Molly chillin in the shade. It was rather warm.

A path we had never taken.

After a couple miles, Jay wanted to cool off. Molly not so much.

Mine Bank Run was really dried up.

So when we found a puddle, Jay took the opportunity to cool off.

 

Always a Favorite

25 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by in kayaking, Photography

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With a lot that needs taking care of this week, we were still able to find the time to go kayaking. We decided on somewhere close. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water. We have been to Dundee creek many times and each time we take a different path.

Today’s trip kept us mostly along the shoreline, checking out the hidden coves. A little over 3 miles and two hours on the water. Beautiful.

The water was really calm and smooth – like butter. This is the first small cove heading north from the launch area.

Moving on, Kathy stops to look at a couple Isis. The one on the post, all the way near shore, did not move for quite a while. We could not get close enough to them for a good photo shot.

Moving on to the next little cove. I don’t believe a lot of people venture into here. Lots of spider webs.

Not only spiders but tree obstacles as well. But worth the silence and seclusion once inside.

A whatchamacallit hanging from an abandoned dock.

The one cove, upper left had these invasive guys growing. Kathy said her goldfish love eating these things.

My sun-goddess oblivious to the paddle boarders. We went early and it was getting really hot out by 11am.

Decided to go over to the osprey nest. I guess these guys moved on to Argentina? I did wave to the Marshy Point Osprey Cam.

The Marshy Point Nature Center, which is a very nice place, is just beyond the woods.

Another great day to be kayaking.

Tying Up Loose Ends

21 Thursday Sep 2017

Posted by in Photography, water history

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Since my retirement is pretty much just around the corner, I need to start working on “Tying up some loose ends”, so to speak. At work, this means getting my files together and putting them in order so others may find important information. As far as my work on the DPW Museum archives, I do not think I will ever get this done. Just so much stuff.

I came back across an old box full of broken glass plate negatives. I guess it must be about 24 8″x10″ plates. Hard to tell because most are broken into a lot of small pieces. Some, like the one below, are in just a couple pieces, making restoration fairly simple. Years ago, before computer scanning and restoration software, the previous archivist either placed the pieces on a Xerox copier and scanned them or took a photograph of the pieces, placed together as best they could. They came out as negatives. I need to find those paper copies to help put the pieces back together.

Here is one of the better broken plates. The slivers from the crack will never be found by me. So I filled it in as best I could with the software. When I first started my water history research, I had no idea that Baltimore City built one dam on top of another. The upper right portion shown was built in steps, at an elevation of 188′. This was to be able to support the newer dam which would be built at elevation 240′. It was thought to be able to support a dam at 270′.

The jigsaw puzzle, restoration process is long and tedious and I don’t believe I will have the time to finish up this box of broken pieces. Let alone finish up documenting what is left to be done.

Random Labor Day 2017

18 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by in nature, ocean city, Photography

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Trip to Salisbury and Ocean City

Looking thru the screen.

Losing a feather.

Brave Molly chasing the heron away from the pond. The heron likes to eat all the fish in the pond.

The old barn and the shed.

He decided to land on top of the barn for a while.

Kathy’s photo of a knot hole in the barn.

And her photo of a morning glory.

My view of the mg.

A walk through the cornfield.

Rows of corn on the sandy soil.

Kathy looking at something…

How the corn holds on for dear life.

Corn on the cob.

Picture of Kathy taking a picture of me.

Turkey feather.

Spider.

Milkweed.

To the ocean Hon.

Rides not being…Hmm…grammar question. Would it be ‘Not being ridden’ or ‘not being rode’?

If you get a chance, go in the Life Saving Museum and look at the collection of sand from around the world.

Across the inlet. No ponies today.

Need more light.

It.

Two sisters shopping.

Favorite art store.

Vacations in B/W

14 Thursday Sep 2017

Posted by in National Parks, Photography

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I could not imagine going on vacation and seeing everything in black and white, although I do sometimes convert my photographs to b/w. On occasion, while sorting and documenting the museum archives I come across photographs that are in unmarked files, no explanation as to why they are there. The only thing I can figure is that they were someone’s personal photos and left within objects donated to the museum or gathered up and packed away by mistake before they were archived.

I found the below photographs with their negatives in an old lantern slide envelope. They are 2-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ prints. There are no dates but they have a short description on the reverse side.

Grand canyon of the Yellowstone from Inspiration Point, Yellowstone Park (Note falls in distance)

Old Faithful (car gives an idea to the date of this photograph – early 1900s?)

Angel Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park. Back then people needed to be told to stay off the natural wonders, so as not to ruin them for others to enjoy.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Inspiration Point. Two of the photos I found had a glare to them, like they were taken through the windshield of a car?

View of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone.

At foot of Uncle Tom’s Trail. Lower Falls of Yellowstone. Enlarging this photo doesn’t do it justice. Although I scanned it at 1200, it looks fuzzy. The actual photo is crisper. I never was one to like the effects some photographers do to moving water, making it all fuzzy looking. I like seeing what is being seen and not special effects.

Minerva Terrace. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park.

Kilgore Falls and Kayaking (Doggie Style)

12 Tuesday Sep 2017

Posted by in Hiking, kayaking, Photography

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It was a nice day to head up to Eden Mill for some kayaking, but first we stopped at Kilgore Falls, on Falling Branch, to do a little hiking. Early enough and cool enough out that there wasn’t a big summer crowd there.

Nice, well worn trails to the falls.

Two paths across the water. I took the easier one since I was carrying Molly in one hand and the camera in the other.

Molly, a poop bag and an alien t-shirt. Life is sweet!

An unobstructed view.

Speaking of aliens, did you ever see the Star Trek episode with Frank Gorshin – Let That Be Your Last Battlefield?

We finished our hike and then headed to the mill for Molly’s first kayak adventure. She was well behaved and only got jumpy once. (When I say jumpy, I mean, we thought she was going to jump ship)

Heading up stream, waiting for me. Another kayaker suggested I move my truck. Shouldn’t park in front of the mill. I thought the mill was closed.

Right after she peeked over the side and realized she was on the water, she panicked some. But calmed down.

The barn and shed upstream a ways. The water was higher than normal. We were hoping to go further up, but…

…just past the farm the water was only a couple inches deep. I got out and walked up some to see if it was deeper upstream. To the curve, it was not.

We brought the kayaks together to drift downstream at an easy pace. Molly decided to jump in my kayak.

Only turtles we saw.

And this guy. We did see a couple deer driving the back road to the dam, but that was it for wildlife.

Speaking of wild life, when I went to get the truck, this guy, in his mastiff taxi, was pulling up! Another weekend of wonderful adventures!!

Chalk Art

11 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by in art, Baltimore

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Little Italy in Baltimore. I did not see a lot of advertisement for this event, which was a shame since there was such good art work here. And food. We ate at Sabatino’s afterwards, followed by Vaccaro’s pastry shop.

High Street was blocked off for this event.

Betsy Ross.

Lots of work and patience to do these.

This will probably be a great 3-D effect when done.

I think this guy didn’t get the memo about it being Chalk. Smelled like spray paint to me!

We looked at her portfolio. She has done a lot of great pieces over the years.

I really couldn’t see the 3-D effect on a lot of theses…

…even while standing where I was told to.

Nice color on this one. Amazing some of these came out so good considering the texture of the asphalt.

Nice. I saw this one upside down at first and wasn’t sure what is was.

Left over from the City Lights Festival.

The party is over, until next time.

Tuckahoe

28 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by in kayaking, Photography

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I’d like to thank https://kayakingdelmarva.com/ and Bill Gross from Facebook for telling me about this place. It was really, really nice. Kathy says it is second only to Assateague Island kayaking. I believe she is right! The map below shows our route. I would say it was more like 5 miles total (we did zigzag around a bit on the way up but took a straight shot back) We were there for about four hours.

According to Google Maps, we were in 3 different counties. The ramp is in Caroline. Once we crossed to the other side of the creek we were in Talbot. Then heading north, zig-zagging back and forth in Queen Anne’s. Not sure exactly how far we went because Kathy’s phone lost the location signal. I do know that a plane doing somersaults over our heads was somewhere heading towards Ridgely Airfield. I know we weren’t that far up.

The boat ramp. Nice little secluded area. A man and his son were fishing there and two girls were swimming.

I found this painted rock in Baltimore and brought him for the ride. Left him on the bench to be found and enjoyed by another. When we came back 4 hours later he was gone – tossed in the water! I rescued him! And found 2 others that I just left on the ramp.

Heading under Main St. Don’t forget to duck.

I see you. A lot of times Kathy and I will drift off in different directions. I went into this little cove to check things out.

Next is the first railroad bridge.

Those are some old trees.

There were a lot of trees down in this creek. It was a giant obstacle course. Lots of underwater limbs you have to look out for. But it was fun!

Route 404. It sure is taking the state a long time to finish this road.

The next RR Bridge.

Baxter.

Tarzan swing.

Underneath the power lines is this diesel tank and pump?

The changing of the leaves. Fall is coming early to Tuckahoe Creek. It will be so nice to come back here in the fall!

Kathy getting a close up of a flower. Her phone takes better pics than my camera.

Inside the flower.

This thing jumped up on her kayak and she started beating it with her paddle! Actually, she retrieved it out of the water and wanted to keep it. I broke it when I dropped it in the grass – sorry…

This was a point where Kathy went to one side of the island and I stayed the course. Was able to duck under this.

It was unbelievable the number of turtles we saw.

Upstream a little farther, another tree in the way. Kathy doing the limbo.

Little hands on shore. We did get out to look around some. It is very muddy. Took a while to scrub the kayaks later on.

This became the end of our journey north. Probably could have went under it, but we were already at 2-1/2 hours.

Blockage on the other side of the creek.

A friend of Donald Sutherland?

Heading back with a different perspective.

Come on Fall!!

Wonder if Baxter wrote this and if Kaci said yes?

Not a lot of visible wildlife. A couple hawks showed up and this guy and the turtles and little fishies in the water.

Almost there. I really enjoyed this adventure. All the colors and reflections.

I am soooo glad I didn’t see this before going in the water. I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself thinking I was going to be towed or fined!

Days Cove Serenity

22 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by in Hiking, kayaking, nature, Photography

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With all this hate spewing forth here lately on FaceBook (and life), I am so glad that I have found two ways that I can bring a sense of calm and peace into my life. 1) The Serenity Prayer 2) Kayaking. You just can’t beat those two together! Next would be hiking. Did all three Sunday.

There are three areas where the Gunpowder Rivers converge before heading to the bay. The Little Gunpowder, the Big Gunpowder and the Gunpowder River. We have explored 2 of them so far. Both times we entered through Mariners Point. A couple weeks ago I mentioned about parking and the lack of it for kayakers. (The boaters get preferential treatment for their trailers). I even wrote a letter to the County Rec and Parks, cc to the County Executive about it. I was more or less told that if I didn’t like it, go elsewhere! Fortunately, we lucked out in getting a fairly close spot to park. But, something odd did happen as we were leaving – the Coast Guard was there checking kayaks! Lots of rules I was unaware of. Check out their website to get the low-down.

“This is my path; here I shall find peace. I will pursue this path, come what may.” (Anyone remember what book this comes from?)

And here is our path. 4.67 miles in about 3 hours. The landfill is to the left. It was surprising that the water was clearer in the cove. The little white dot on land near the shore is the Days Cove Nature Center, which I believe is now closed down. I remember taking my daughter to a Halloween Party there years ago. Nice center.

Us pointing at the point sign.

Watch out for the jets.

Purple flowers around.

The grasses seemed a lot thicker this trip.

Heading into the cove from the Big Gunpowder.

We saw as many herons on this trip as we did osprey on our last trip. This guy has something on his nose.

And what do we have here?

Time to park it and get out to investigate.

A chimney and a reluctant model!

A mixture of various stones.

This path will take you to the Nature Center.

Some formstone and building debris.

Blue-eyed lady.

Back into the water. Took a bit to figure out what this is – it’s a drain plug to drain the cove!

Saw this guy at the far end of the cove. Went over to explore because there was an eagle here also, fighting with another bird. We couldn’t find him though.

A bunch of these blinds around.

Heading back to port. These three must have long legs, or the water is very shallow.

This water will put a hurting (and a good workout) on your arms!

Abandoned water front property.

The only time during the trip that I thought about what is going on in the world. Why can’t we occupy the same place (planet) without all the hateful words and actions? This gull is getting along fine with these guys (Cormorants?)

But then again, there is always that one guy that wants to be different.

 

Drawing Loch Raven Dam

17 Thursday Aug 2017

Posted by in Baltimore, HISTORY, water history

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It seems that everytime someone asks me to find something for them, I find a lot more undocumented stuff. While researching information concerning the properties at Ashland, which is Northwest of the Loch Raven Dam, Baltimore, Md., I came upon a full scale drawing of the dam. I had posted a few years ago, one of my favorite photographs:

This is the photographer’s studio showing the artist’s rendition of what the dam would look like when construction is completed in 1922. All the supplies for developing the film/glass plates are on the shelves.

Later I would find a lantern slide of just the drawing.

Yesterday I found a colorized drawing. It is fairly beat up. So glad I was able to scan it.