PARK(ing) Day

[magid]

Friday, Cambridge participated in PARK(ing) Day. I toured a bunch of the parks.

1. My first stop was a bust: whichever artists were in charge of the spot in Inman Square failed to do anything with it.
   
   
2. The second park, however, was definitely in use, having been organized by some teachers right by their school, though they were thrilled to have a non-school visitor. There was lots of chalk to draw on the road, toys to play with, and a ton of pinwheels in honor of Peace Day, pinwheels for peace. Oh, and an ongoing story; each person added a sentence.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. I went over to Kendall Square next, finding a lovely fenced dog park, with squares of sod and one well-behaved canine in addition to the many silhouettes of dogs and stuffed dogs. The woman who organized this congenial space also had a petition for a dog park in East Cambridge.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Then it was on to the long sweep of Mass Ave., starting at the MIT end. Not far from the end of the infinite corridor was an outdoor office, with office furniture (that I failed to get photos of), and this interactive map of the city. The guys running this were from Parcupine, which is planning an app to get real-time information on available parking, as well as thinking about other solutions for parking challenges. I enjoyed talking with them, and appreciated the snacks they had on offer (yay, banana :-).
   
   
   
5. The MIT museum park had the chance to have a Polaroid photo taken with a picture of one of their interactive robots, partly as a promotion for the upcoming launch of a book on the history of Polaroid. I liked their flags and trees.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Next up was the CCTV park, offering the possibility of being filmed offering my opinions on the future of Central Square, or other opinions on Cambridge. Or texting, etc. The people were nice to chat with, but it didn't feel very parklike.
   
   
   
7. In Central Square, there was a solar park put on by Green Port, apparently part of the Cambridge Energy Alliance. It had been overcast until then; the sun started coming out while I was there, making the solar-powerd fountain work, though I didn't get a good photo of it in action.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. In front of City Hall there was a water bar sponsored by the mayor. There was a map showing where the city gets its water (which I knew, having toured the water treatment plant out by Fresh Pond some years ago). It was pretty swank, and had a choice of plain water, or flavored with sliced strawberries, or sliced limes. And the plastic cups were compostable, and being collected to be composted.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Over by Harvard Square, the Center for Democracy had a park with squashy seating, bookshelves, and a wide choice of newspapers from around the world.
   
   
   
   
   
10. The next park was sponsored by Oceana, and was more like a tent in a good-cause part of a street fair than a park, with a petition to sign, but nothing very park-ish. I told them that another park had pinwheels, for Peace Day, which they were pleased by. Oh, and they weren't prepared for the gusts of wind that managed to tilt their tent alarmingly.
    
    
    
    
    
11. The Harvard School of Design had a lovely park for people to hang out in, though there didn't seem to be an 'owner' to chat with people or anything.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. Halfway to Porter Square, there was a park arranged by Charles Associates Real Estate, which featured a bike-powered spin-art station. Oh, and a congenial dog.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. I walked up to Porter Square (having already realized I'd left my house too late to even try for the park out on Huron Ave.) to catch the three contiguous parks in front of the Porter Exchange, but they'd left a bit early (I was there five minutes before the official end-time of three, knowing I was pushing it, but hoping I'd get a sense of what was there), and there was nothing left of any of the parks except for a couple of traffic cones. The motorcycle cops parking there said they'd just seen the end of the people packing up the parks when they'd arrived some minutes before. Part of me was rather annoyed to have missed them, especially when I thought about how I'd lost a couple of minutes in not finding one of the earlier parks, and how I should've left the house earlier. But I'd had a good day, all in all.

According to one person, the city had decided to participate only a few weeks ago; I think they'll be more organized next year. I kept thinking of what I'd do for a park (blowing bubbles? a micro-mini exercise trail? some kind of statuary?) I wonder if I can get some friends to do this together next year, not only for the help in organizing, but also so we could trade off shifts; everyone along my route was interested in what the other parks were like.