"Berry picker, pie maker" park bench

Park bench dedicated to Mom & Dad

It was such a beautiful sunny day today and those are somewhat rare around here so amid the packing, laundry, and general housekeeping, I just had to take a walk in the sun to see if the park benches were up yet. What a wonderful surprise! The bench my brother arranged to have installed dedicated to our parents was there with the plaque and everything.

The plaque for the bench

It is located on a slight hill just under a tree. In the summer it will have shade. I even got to sit down and listen to the birds for a few minutes. This is right on a public access to the trail and is a high traffic area that needed two benches. The other bench has been there for a year or two and is heavily used. The nice part is that the location is very near to the house Dad built and we lived in. It is also not too far away from his secret berry patch where we all picked blackberries from which Mom made those delicious pies.

Across the trail from the bench the Friends of the Burke Gilman Trail have been planting Huckleberries, Thimble berries, several different types of native ferns, Hawthornes (black and red), a few other berries and flowers. Very appropriate considering the message on the plaque.

Looking north along the trail

One of the Ribes sanguineum (Red-Flowering Currant) bushes* along the trail

Informational marker about the plantings

All along the side of the trail where they have been planting the new shrubs, berries, ferns, and flowers there are informational signs telling about the plants. It was a lot of fun to walk along and read the notes and see if I could identify any of the tiny new shoots.

Bopa's bench isn't up yet but I did not start the process to donate that bench as early and really have not expected to see it installed until May. After it is up I will take some pictures and post them too.

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Note:

* There are several markers clustered together all in a row beside the trail identifying the various plants and I originally thought this shrub was the red Hawthorne. Red and black Hawthornes have also been planted nearby and we had one at the foot of our driveway that looked very much like this plant. Kate Schroder said she thought it might be a native northwest red-flowering currant instead. Sure enough it is a currant. I had no idea that currant bushes got this tall. The photo is deceptive, the plant is already about 6 feet high.