Towpath Trail XII (4/24/2016)

Sunday, April 24, 2016
Today's hike along the old Ohio & Erie Canal was from Deep Lock Quarry to Lock 27, and turned out to be the wildflower hike. What is a wildflower and what is a weed? A weed is any plant that is where it is not wanted, so usually a non-native invasive plant. A wildflower is usually a native plant.

At this point the canal is filled with grass

Ganoderma applanatum/Artist's Conk Fungus, a wildflower

Ranunculus hispidus/Swamp Buttercup, a wildflower

Alliaria petiolata/Garlic Mustard, a weed

Lamium purpureum/Purple Dead-nettle, a weed

Stellaria pubera/Star Chickweed, a wildflower

Viola sororia/Common Blue Violet, a wildflower

Viola striata/Common White Striped Violet, a wildflower

Viola pubescens/Common Yellow Violet, a wildflower

Taraxacum officinale/Dandelion, a weed!

Actually a beautiful flower, and
some of the flower heads were quite large 

A couple of shells; black walnut and bird's egg

Glechoma hederacea/Ground Ivy, a weed

Woodpecker cavities in a tree
weakened by fungi

The flash reveals an intruder

Streambed

Brunnera macrophylla/Great Forget-me-not,
a non-native but apparently not invasive

Anas platyrhynchos/Mallard Duck

Symplocarpus foetidus/Skunk Cabbage, a "wildflower"

Unidentified submerged plant

Trillium grandiflorum/Large-flowered Trillium

This trillium is Ohio's state wildflower

Mertensia virginica/Virginia Bluebells, a wildflower

Tussilago farfara/Coltsfoot
flower and seed puff, a weed

Cardamine concatenata/Cutleaf Toothwort,
a wildflower

Lock 27 or Johnnycake Lock

Chrysemys picta marginata/Midland Painted Turtles
(note red spots along the edge of the carapace/shell)

Johnnycake Lock, so named because in 1828  a flood
caused the canal to silt, grounding boats and
stranding passengers who ate corn meal pancakes,
called johnnycakes, as supplies ran low

Kent and Brynne on the raised towpath

Yes, Tamiko was here, too (KSS)

Erythronium americanum/Yellow Trout Lily, a wildflower

Aesculus glabra/Ohio Buckeye flower 

Ohio Buckeye leaves emerging

A busy day on the Towpath Trail!

(We hiked the "first" section of the Towpath Trail that follows the old Ohio & Erie Canal on July 6, 2014 from Harvard Road to the Marcy Trestle. We started at the Canalway Center near the trestle and walked to the overpass of I-77 on November 9, 2014. On December 26, 2014, we walked between the I-77 overpass and Quaker Steak on Canal Road in Valley View. On September 27, 2015, we hiked between Quaker Steak on Canal Road and Lock 38. On October 4, 2015, we went between Lock 38 and Alexander's Mill. On November 8, 2015, we hiked from Alexander's Mill halfway to Station Road Bridge. On November 29, 2015, we went from Station Road Bridge halfway back to Alexander's Mill. On December 6, 2015, we went from Station Road Bridge to Red Lock. December 13, 2015 was between Red Lock and Boston Store. On February 28, 2016, we hiked from Lock 29 back to Boston Store. The hike on March 27, 2016 was from Lock 29 to Deep Lock Quarry.)

Edgewater Neighborhood (4/23/2016)

Saturday, April 23, 2016
After the Edgewater Park hike, we drove farther west into the Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland, with century-old mansions of the wealthy who sought waterfront property along Lake Erie.

Poschke Building (1928) by Henry Hradilek in Renaissance Pastiche style,
built for for Otto Poschke who started in 1911 with a shack selling
hot dogs and hamburgers to beachgoers; he consolidated his expanding
business by commissioning this building to look "like a museum"

There were variations in landscape style.

Modern sculpture and stone cherubs

Artificial colored trees

Scads of sculptures

"That Car" decorated with reflectors, corks, and toys

(Check out the link mentioned in the comment below!)

The car has a Mohawk hair-do made of Barbie doll legs

The occupants of the car got out and went into a corner yard, which we discovered was the Dr Gerard & Phyllis Seltzer Sculpture Garden Trust. We had to take a look as well.

Bamboo Shoots & Leaves (1956) by Cristina Iglesias

Blondie & Noel (1951) by John Ahearn

Rainbow Arch (1927) by Kenneth Snelson

Rainbow Sphere (1951) by Marta Cellura

On the right: Cylinder Fragments (1948) by Steve Bennyworth;
on the left: Balanced-Unbalanced (1931) by Fletcher Benton

Behind: Hawthorn Tree (1936) by Isaac Witkin;
In front: Transfiguration (1936) also by Isaac Witkin

Dr and Mrs Seltzer are major art patrons and continue to be donors to the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Edgewater Hill Blue Birds (4/23/2016)

Saturday, April 23, 2016
A detour from the Edgewater Park hike took us into the Edgewater Hill section of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood of Cleveland, to see the Blue Birds. Edgewater Hill has access to Edgewater Park and is also on the Atlantic Flyway as a rest stop for migrating birds. For a sense of neighborhood identity, the Blue Bird Project installed 35 blue bird sculptures on utility poles, trees, homes, and commercial buildings in 2007. The project was designed by Mark Reigelman II.
There is even a map to locate all the blue birds, but we did not find four of them!

See the blue bird on the neighborhood café?

The blue bird is under the left window

A blue bird on an apartment building

Two blue birds in a sycamore tree
(the head of the second bird is in the
bottom of the 'V' formed by the branch)

We came to find the blue birds before they were hidden by leaves!

Two blue birds on a utility pole
(note the Kilbane Town on the street sign,
more on this later)

A community garden

See the blue bird on the house?

The blue birds are the size of a large pigeon

Wow! The fragrance from this Viburnum sp was powerful!

Tulips brightened the day

Then we have our local landscaping

Oops! This blue bird lost his tail

A nicely landscaped 1920 Arts & Crafts house

Across the street from 2006 homes of Battery Park

Battery Park is part of Edgewater Hill and is the largest housing development in Cleveland. This urban renewal project was built on the site of the Eveready Battery Company plant, and the powerhouse remains as a community center with retail shops.

More housing in Battery Park

The Battery Park Powerhouse

Statues of Johnny Kilbane as a youth,
as a boxer, and in his later years
(Fighting Heart, 2014, by Rowan Gillespie)

Remember that Herman Avenue was also titled Kilbane Town. Johnny Kilbane lived here beginning in 1910. In 1912 he won the world featherweight boxing championship, and then participated in the longest and largest St Patrick's Day parade in Cleveland history the parade ended W 74th Street near Herman Avenue. He was later to serve a term as State Senator.

Freight trains run past Battery Park regularly

A real bird this time: Charadrius vociferus/Killdeer

Back through the 76th Street "subway" to Edgewater Park.