Hartford Marathon
Oct. 9th, 2021 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asakiyumeToday Wakanomori ran the Hartford Marathon. With this marathon, he's run a marathon in every New England state (not to mention several in New York). But two people running in today's marathon were using it as a capstone for running a marathon in every state, so there are always new goals to achieve.
I kept myself entertained by limping around Bushnell Park, which is not named after a corporation, as I darkly suspected (there is a Bushnell Corporation, but it's headquartered in Kansas), but after Rev. Horace Bushnell (1802–1876), who in 1853 proposed a park for the city.
I spent some time on this carousel (video is under 10 seconds)
--riding this horse, whose magnificently lolling tongue I admired:
The horses all had really horsehair tails ... I was reminded a little ofsartorias's Marlovens.
Along with horses, the park had some charming frogs:
They have spouts in their mouths and were in a playground area, so I'm guessing they add a fun water component in warm weather.
The marathon was tremendously well resourced. Here is a helper:
But initially I was in some kind of a mood--maybe partly because of the evidence of poverty around the place we spent the night and on our walk from where we parked.
Not evidence of poverty; just a mood-appropriate image from some cornice
I couldn't help thinking how nice it would be if these amenities...
... could be available on the regular instead of as festive extras. Water *used* to be regularly available in public places for people--we could make it so again. Public toilets are available in other countries. As for medical aid, I won't start.
But everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves at the park, and after writing a letter and watching a fountain and seeing a monarch butterfly high up in the air--and riding the carousel--so was I. As I leaned on the railing in the spot I'd claimed at the finish, a young woman came and stood nearby for a while.
"Do you know how I can get over there?" she asked, pointing to the other side of the street.
"I think you just have to walk along until you come to a break in the barrier, and then you can cross," I said. "Do you have someone running?"
"No, I'm just visiting, and it happens to be a marathon," she said, laughing. Then, a moment later, "I admire their spirit."
Me too. It's not a zero-sum game. It's possible to have both public bathrooms AND marathons.
I kept myself entertained by limping around Bushnell Park, which is not named after a corporation, as I darkly suspected (there is a Bushnell Corporation, but it's headquartered in Kansas), but after Rev. Horace Bushnell (1802–1876), who in 1853 proposed a park for the city.
I spent some time on this carousel (video is under 10 seconds)
--riding this horse, whose magnificently lolling tongue I admired:
The horses all had really horsehair tails ... I was reminded a little of
sartorias's Marlovens.Along with horses, the park had some charming frogs:
They have spouts in their mouths and were in a playground area, so I'm guessing they add a fun water component in warm weather.
The marathon was tremendously well resourced. Here is a helper:
But initially I was in some kind of a mood--maybe partly because of the evidence of poverty around the place we spent the night and on our walk from where we parked.
Not evidence of poverty; just a mood-appropriate image from some cornice
I couldn't help thinking how nice it would be if these amenities...
... could be available on the regular instead of as festive extras. Water *used* to be regularly available in public places for people--we could make it so again. Public toilets are available in other countries. As for medical aid, I won't start.
But everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves at the park, and after writing a letter and watching a fountain and seeing a monarch butterfly high up in the air--and riding the carousel--so was I. As I leaned on the railing in the spot I'd claimed at the finish, a young woman came and stood nearby for a while.
"Do you know how I can get over there?" she asked, pointing to the other side of the street.
"I think you just have to walk along until you come to a break in the barrier, and then you can cross," I said. "Do you have someone running?"
"No, I'm just visiting, and it happens to be a marathon," she said, laughing. Then, a moment later, "I admire their spirit."
Me too. It's not a zero-sum game. It's possible to have both public bathrooms AND marathons.
