ANOTHER TRIP TO SCAJAQUADA CREEK

We park in the Tops Supermarket lot at Amherst and Grant Streets. Walking along the Bike Path, we are soon in another world. At first the Creek is wide open and visible but then we wander down under a decrepit railroad bridge and see aged wooden pillars as well as the foundations of Route 198. The creek is a polluted mess - it's gone through so many uses and abuses but now the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers and other groups have hopes to improve its future.

THROUGH A HOLE IN THE CHAIN LINK FENCE

Right off the bike path is a rusted world of abandoned factories. Huge chunks of obsolete equipment sit in the sun, more amazing than any sculpture. An old 18-wheeler is half hidden in the weeds. It appears scrappers may be organizing some of the remains. It could take a man's lifetime to empty the buildings and sell all the scrap metal. Graffiti artists have marked the territory again and again while someone has tried unsuccessfully to blot them out. This world is both invisible and wide open.

EMPTYING INTO BLACK ROCK CHANNEL

Where the creek empties out into Black Rock Channel, we see the underside of Route 190 and beside it is a line of ancient piers. No idea what could have been here but obviously lots of history. I'll have to search for old photos that might show what once was.

VISIT TO THE GULF COAST - BAYPORT, FLORIDA

At the end of May, I went to Florida to pick up Mom and Dad and bring them back up to Cape Cod. We drive over to Bayport to view the Gulf Coast. Today it is clean and beautiful but the newspapers are filled with stories of unsuccessful attempts to stop the leak.

Alive with little fish

The edges along the marsh are swirling with schools of little fish. Birds are everywhere.
I wonder how long it will be before the oil moves in to destroy them.

Quiet Culture

Dad tells me that Jack Dempsey and Babe Ruth were fishing buddies and hung out in the area. Today there are lots of fishermen enjoying the beautiful water. All the "small" people who have no chance against BP.

FREE THE SCAJAQUADA CREEK

It's the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper's Spring Shoreline Sweep going on at many local sites, all connected to world wide efforts. I've signed up for the Scajaquada Creek site. The creek runs through the city, at times buried underground, and then dumps out into Lake Erie. Lots of controversy over this creek including some political action to improve it. It's known as one of the more intense areas for trash because of all the traffic around it.