A short walk back

As I walked up the quiet sidewalks of College Street the Harvest Moon was setting over my right shoulder.  Here and there a car made its way down the silent street and here and there a lone light shown in the window as someone was getting up to face another day.

As I turned down through the Lakeside housing development on the shores of Chambers Lake, I remembered when this was old man Chase’s cow pasture.   As a young man, I had walked the streets of this development when the housing units were under construction and wondered if anyone would really buy the houses and live here.

Recently, the city had taken a heavily wooded area along the shores of the lake and added two major retention ponds to filter the rainwater run-off from College Street.  The wildness of the area was attractive to those who lived around it and many teens found a hidden place to participate in activities in which they shouldn’t.  Now the area had been tamed, with a paved road running through the heart and walking trails built along the shoreline  – courtesy of an Eagle Scout project.

Several bunnies joined me in my walk, standing quiet and still until I came closer and then scooting out of the way.  The area has been overrun by rabbits.  Someone had raised rabbits in a backyard cage and some of them had gotten loose and did what rabbits do – procreate.  They found the retention facility a good place to reproduce.  I thought the coming winter and the feral cats which call urban areas like this their home, would reduce the number of rabbits by this time next year.

As I neared the end of my walk, the sun was just starting to make itself known behind the treeline.  Soon this quiet area would become an active city once again and I would join in the activities of urban living.

But, for a short period of time, I was alone, lost in my thoughts and the memories of times past.