Dolmen Project (Year Twelve) Confessions of a “Guerilla Artist”: Throwback Thursday

Wades Nice Shady Spot

Day 16 (7/10/14)
In honor of Throwback Thursday I decided to go south on the bike trail, something I don’t think I have done in three or four years on bicycle. Wade was getting sick of doing the same thing day after day, riding towards Oostburg, taking a nap, doing some building or rebuilding and then coming home. I determined for his sake to change it up a little. I am not sure exactly why I don’t go south more often but partially it has to do with keeping everything standing in two directions. There are also long stretches were either because of lack of materials or swamp it is hard to do any building. Otherwise if you are just looking for a scenic ride serenaded by bull frogs with the occasional glimpse of turkeys, cranes and turtles it is great. Except for the broken glass at the entrance to the trail we got off to a good start. Judging by the number of empty cigarette packages and broken bottles the southern route is a popular smoking and drinking area. That may not be fair based on just one trip but it is too bad because it is such a beautiful area to ride. As I was saying, we got off to a good start and at first crossing we found a number of interesting building resources and a nice shady mosquito free spot for Wade. As usual, when he is awake, he looks on with unmasked curiosity. While I was building I watched a flock of turkeys feeding in the field below us. After a while Wade started getting restless so we headed back down the trail. It really is a beautiful ride with wooded swamp areas punctuated by open farmland. I went passed a few potential building sites driven by the idea of getting as far as J road where I used to have some builds years ago. There was also a field that used to be filled with cone flowers. I really didn’t hope to find anything intact but was surprised to find the remainder of one I called the “Peace Memorial” looking somewhat like an archeological site. You could still kind of make out the rock peace sign buried in the mud surrounded by liter. I looked back at my blogs and the last time I had done anything at that site was in 2010. With much zeal I started to rebuild it and clean up the desecrated area around it. In looking for more stones I found an old galvanized pipe elbow that I shoved in the middle and rechristen it “Peace Pipe”. I hope I make it back down there again before another four years has passed. If not I hope it fairs as well in the next four. If there are any cone flowers left in the field they weren’t blooming yet. The trees had also grown a lot bigger so they may have choked the flowers out. We had a pleasant ride home planning our next trip south.