As part of my year of Explore, and to get to know our community better now that the worst of the pandemic is past, Dale and I decided that we'd like to start our explorations by visiting the Eugene parks. Eugene has over 150 parks and open spaces, so we have a lot of exploring to do!
For fun, or maybe to make it easier to figure out where to explore next, we've decided to visit the parks in alphabetical order. We'll likely jump around a little bit, but this points us in a general direction.
Today we visited Acorn Park. It's a small park in a quiet neighborhood,
It's got a large open grassy field, a playground, some picnic tables, and nice benches around the perimeter. Today a Nana and 6 year old boy were playing catch with a big bouncy ball, a woman was sitting at a shady picnic table reading, a mom was alternating pushing swings with her two daughters squealing in delight, another mom was sitting in the shade of a big oak tree with her infant, and a couple teenage boys were hangin' out on a bench on the far side of the park. If you like sports, there's a single basketball hoop on a concrete pad ready for a quick game of horse.
There are several of these unique, colorful tiles embedded in the walkways.
Oh, and acorns. Lots of acorns.
On the southwest corner of the park is a Little Food Pantry. Much like the popular Little Free Libraries, these pantries are located all over town, stocked by volunteers. Inside are non-perishable food staples like canned goods, rice, and boxed drinks. Anyone can donate to these pantries, and anyone can stop by for food. The hope is that no one in Eugene needs to go hungry.
We also happened to find a geocache in the park: Kalapuya History #8 (Umtáktufit). It was an eensy weensy bit difficult to find, because it had crawled out of its original hiding place. Luckily, I spotted it's bright yellow underbelly.
Visiting our parade of parks is a pleasant long-term goal that Dale and I can tackle together. It's a great excuse to push myself out the front door.
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