Gorillas

- that children can climb on -

Taken at the Sedgwick County Zoo, in Wichita Ks

History

No matter where you go, no matter where you look, history is all around you.

Big balls....

.... of concrete, separating the pedestrian area from the parking area.

Municipal Pool

In my youth, I loved to go swimming at Municipal Pool, near Riverside Park. It was a huge swimming pool, with several diving boards (high and low) - and two early day water slides. They were so much fun, one was straight, and the other had a few bumps to it. They had water running down them to add to the sliding fun. They were just slides like you would see at a park, the metal kind - but at the end - you splashed into the pool.

Now - Wichita, has many public pools scattered throughout the city. Smaller pools, for neighborhoods to have easy access to.

This is a photo of a commemorative plaque about the wonderful old swimming pool, that was so much fun. I remember it having a chain link fence that sectioned it off from the diving area. Some would dive off the board, and swim under water - and under the chainlink fence ending up up in the swimming area. Those were the days!

ICU

Get it?

(Eye see you!)

Calm and serene

- Lilly Pads and a Gazebo -

Taken at Riverside Park, in Wichita Ks

Riverside Park is a large park, with lots to see and enjoy.

Manmade lilly pad

This was taken at Riverside Park, in Wichita, Ks.

Tomorrow, I'll show you more of these, from a distance.

Four letter word

I'm curious - how do you define love?

Statue at Botanica

Maybe she represents one of the seasons.

child on a monkey's back

The expression of "a monkey on my back" is often heard by those who have a burden weighing heavilly upon them.

If this gorilla could talk - it's expression might be about a child on a monkey's back. It's so nice, that the zoo has statues of animals that allow for children to play among a wild kingdom of safe bronze sculptures.

Gorilla's and a Goose

Kansas Palm Trees

A colorful sting of electrical Palm trees, can be seen at night along the Kellogg West entrance ramp, from West street. I wonder what the story is behind them - did the city install these trees, or did a company put them in? Well, on the rainy night that this picture was taken, I sure enjoyed seeing them. They came as a complete surprise.

In between

Let's go up these stairs and see what's in between the last two photos.

Below

I'm going to label this as city art. People often drive by this, but they don't see it, or even know it's there. It's located below the...... (to be continued)

There he is!

Reaching through the opening between the gates, I was able to extend my arm, and aim the camera towards the troll. I was delighted to get a better look at him, from this angle, and surprised to see he's skinny! This concludes our stroll with the troll, hope you enjoyed it.

..... and looking up at her

Here's what the little girl in the lavendar coat saw as she looked down through the drainage grate. She looked for quite a while, as she asked a few Troll questions (like: "will he get me" and "how did he get there") and then we went on to further investigate the area.

... Look down

The child has found the troll!

More photos of this troll excursion to come, but only one a day.

I hope you all enjoy this vicarious river walk with the little girl in the lavender coat.

It was a cold, wet, rainy day, but we had fun anyway.

Going to see the troll

In this photo, at the base of the birdhouse pole, you can see a black drainage grate. Below the grate is Wichita's very own river troll. I've featured the troll in some past photos, but the little girl in the photo wanted to "go see it again". So, off we went on a troll hunt. I'm proud of Wichita for putting some fun public art for kids to find along the river. If you ever go walking along the area of the Keeper of the Plains Plaza, and you have children that like adventure (and troll stories) - be sure to see if you can find him. The birdhouse and black grate in this photo is what to look for, when you get there........ (to be continued).

Dog on Douglas Street

It's too cold to get out and take photos, so I'm pulling from some past ones. This one was taken on Douglas Street. I think it's kind of funny, because I asked the kids to step out of the picture. And, so they hid behind the mesh wall. See their feet?

Artistic Bench

Another night time photo, this time of a bench with fancy art work. This is a double bench, it has a seat on both sides. There were several of these benches, located outdoors near Wichita's public library. I imagine them to be a nice reading spot during spring and fall.