{"id":6377,"date":"2020-11-12T09:48:32","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T14:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6377"},"modified":"2020-11-12T09:53:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T14:53:54","slug":"episode-165-mary-fix-park-hold-your-breath-fear-or-grasp-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6377","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 165 MARY FIX PARK…HOLD YOUR BREATH….FEAR OR GRASP CHANGE"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 165    MARY FIX PARK\u2026HOLD YOUR BREATHE\u2026FEAR OR GRASP  CHANGE<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Nov.  2020<\/div>\n

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Most parks are manicured.   They are perfect places \u2026 trees are limbed, grass is  mown, flower beds are edged, picnic benches are in place, <\/div>\n
baseball fields are designated, etc.  And that is all well and good.  We need these parks.  <\/div>\n

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But we also  need  wilderness parks.  Places where trees grow, thrive, die,  fall down and are allowed to disintegrate snd  return to the earth.  Wilderness<\/div>\n
parks where wild animals can  hide\u2026dig holes to rear their young\u2026patches so secluded that no human foot can tread.    Our city, Mississauga, is well aware<\/div>\n
of the need for both kinds of  parks because we are fortunate to have a major river, the Credit River, weaving its wild way right through the centre of our city.<\/div>\n
And that long piece of parkland is also all well and good.<\/div>\n

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But today I would like to make  plea for another wilderness park.  A fragment tucked into the southwest corner of Hurontario and the Queen Elizabeth Way\u2026two<\/div>\n
major transportation highways.  Mary Fix Park was given to the City of Mississauga decades ago \u2026 willed to the City by Mary Fix, a lawyer, councillor, activist<\/div>\n
and conservationist.   The park has been untouched for more than half a century.  As a result Mary Fix park allows my mind to slip back deep into he past <\/div>\n
when the Mississauga First Nations walked  the trails.  A native grave was found  somewhere near or in the park\u2026dating back  hundreds of  years I was told.<\/div>\n
Never confirmed.<\/div>\n

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The park has its  own magic in other words.  <\/div>\n

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The one sure thing in life is change.  And  change is  coming to Mary Fix Park.  I hope and pray the change is not too drastic.  Mary Fix  did not want<\/div>\n
a manicured  park as her legacy.   The city of Mississauga is about to \u201cimprove\u201d the park with a nature trail so that more people can enjoy the<\/div>\n
part.  And that also is  all well and good.    But please do not make the changes too  drastic. Leave the fallen trees for little creatures to disintegrate.<\/div>\n
Leave the remote corners hidden so larger creatures can raise their families.<\/div>\n

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Mary Fix Creek weaves its way through the park<\/div>\n

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Here is  the way the park looks now.  Nov. 12, 2020.  Be true to the park\u2019s wilderness<\/div>\n

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Windfalls  have been deliberately allowed to disintegrate naturally.  This has been policy of our parks managers.  Let\u2019s keep it that way.<\/div>\n

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There is one main pathway through the park. That will remain and \u2018be improved\u2019.   New signage will also be put in place urging<\/div>\n
the public  to stay on the trail and not damage the wilderness.  Hopefully those signs will be effective.<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Nov. 2020<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 165    MARY FIX PARK\u2026HOLD YOUR BREATHE\u2026FEAR OR GRASP  CHANGE alan skeoch Nov.  2020 Most parks are manicured.   They are perfect places \u2026 trees are limbed, grass is  mown, flower beds are edged, picnic benches are in place,  baseball fields are designated, etc.  And that is all well and good.  We need these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}