Why I’m Not Voting For Your Playground

Last year, tragedy struck my neighborhood: a local boy was found hanged in the park across the street from our house. He had been playing with a climbing rope, and speculation exists whether a bully was involved. Even though I didn’t know this child or his family, I do grieve with them for their son’s loss.

Last weekend, Aaron and I came home to find a flyer on our door, asking us to vote on the Pepsi Refresh website for a memorial playground in the open field across the street, which has been zoned as a city park for decades. Maybe it’s selfish, but our first reaction was, “Hell, no.”

Let me explain why…
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eCycling

A couple weeks ago, Aaron found this ad while browsing through the local paper:

shredday

It’s true: I tend to hoard old electronics. Like my old Power Mac 6500, and the Frankenstein PC that was my first foray into replacing major parts (like the motherboard and processor), and that old bondi blue iMac I picked up at the Goodwill a few years back in a fit of nostalgia.

So, after some sorting of cables and cleaning-off of hard drives, Aaron and I loaded up our trunk full of obsolete electronics and headed out to The Andersons for some eCycling.

trunk o' junk

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Icewalkers

Icewalkers
[Taken 18 Feb 2010 | Apple iPhone 3G | post-processing in Photoshop CS2]

I watched these men walk out onto the frozen Maumee River as I was taking my lunchtime walk. I got out my phone 1.) to take a picture, and 2.) just in case I needed to call 9-1-1 if one of them fell through.