What would Willy Penn and the Indians think?

It is absolutely gorgeous outside. Spring seems to have sprung - and I for one could not be happier about it. The warm weather makes me so happy - I could sing. And I have. Lucky for you that you don't have to hear it.

Master Noah and I went on an afternoon stroll to Penn Treaty park and back. I wanted to take the boy out so he could enjoy the warm weather and take in a bit of the world. Of course he feel asleep in the stroller after a few minutes of our hour long adventure. Silly boy.

Unfortunately my trip was also a bit sad. There are two parks within a short distance of our home. Liberty Lands Park is lovely. It's owned and maintained by a Northern Liberties neighborhood group. I'm sure today it was teeming with earthy moms and precocious tots taking in the rays and playing on the equipment. However in the stroller I thought it best to head to Penn Treaty Park. It's on the river and has paved paths perfect for bikes and strollers. Penn Treaty is owned by the city and they do almost nothing to maintain it. It's covered in trash, flooded from the rain, and generally in disrepair. The location of the park is unfortunate in a way - it's cut off from the neighborhood by 95 and Delaware Avenue and is therefore almost forgotten. On the south side of the park was a BBQ joint that had at one time been a nightclub. Club Maui I think. I guess the BBQ place didn't do any business because it appears to be closed. How could I tell? A good number of the windows had had things thrown threw them - and the place was covered in graffiti. It is obvious that kids, dare I say hooligans, hang in this park and are intent on destroying any chance it has of being any place where families would congregate regularly. I was hopeful for a moment when I saw there were about twenty people at the end of park in white jump suits doing some sort of cleanup. I asked someone I passed if they were repairing the pier at the end of the park. The man told me that they were there cleaning the rocks that line the river - apparently they were still covered from the spill that happened so many months ago. It seems pointless when the rest of the Park is in such a state. Last year Mark and I went to one meeting of a Friends of Penn Treaty Park group that was forming. The police officer who was organizing it took our names and numbers and talked about a lot of big plans - but nothing ever came of it. He never contacted us again about a second meeting. It's such a shame. It's such a great place for a park - on the river with a great view of the Philly skyline. I would love to go there regularly with Noah. I guess I should probably find out what I can do - so I feel like I have done my part to salvage the Penn Treaty's potential.