A Day at the Park

God knew my need to find a place to have time completely alone. I couldn’t have imagined finding one on my journey to the Ashokan Reservoir just to see how many people would be walking there. I also couldn’t have imagined finding another park with the same name in Olivebridge as in Stone Ridge! A few natives in the area realize there are two Tongore Parks, but I should have been one of them! I am now!

The park area itself is basically boring, as you may notice from the pictures of the fields for games. There is a paved basketball court, but no water anywhere other than a little stream in the woods. It must be because of the lack of better things to do at this park that it is as empty as it is?

Kids want swings and monkey bars to climb. Without others to form a team to play with, what could a child alone do for entertainment in a park like this other than just run? This place feels both safe and dangerous. It feels safe without people there, but when someone does come, it feels dangerous. There is no one around to hear a scream for help and there is no one to drive past to see if something bad was happening. It’s a park to worship God in. He provides the protection, while a child of His would be spending her time with Him appreciating His bounty of beauty He created! I feel honored to capture His work and save it here to remind me of His love for us!

I did make it to the reservoir and it was as I suspected. Not only were there lots of people there, but it is too upsetting for me to see some still wearing masks as they climb on their bicycles to get exercise, while poisoning their lungs by breathing in carbon dioxide instead of oxygen. On top of that, I grew up in the area before it was heavily policed and overly populated by wealthy city people buying up the property, moving in, and taking over the politics of the area with their liberal, new age beliefs.