the pool by the river/ Emmenegger Nature Park

Emmenegger Nature Park

The place where I learned to swim is now filled with dirt, covered by the land that was brought in to stop the floods from breaking away a place where we once gathered. This park later became a local hangout for the roughens of the area and was frowned upon by the local parents. Hiking, biking and dog walking soon became the new popular activities where we once swam. This place was where we spent the long summer days, watching the sun go down while the cicadas made them selves know. The dead squirrel in the bag that frightened my friend who thought that drinking from the Meramec river would bring her closer to the earth. Located next to the park where I grew up as a child and came to love nature, this was like visiting a well know landmark that no longer existed. Many people still see this area as a once popular area that can be seen for what it is now, not for what it once was. Much like Times beach, MO we all learned about how when we act, we cause change.

The trip to the farm would leave us all guessing how things were before we entered the world.

The last time I was there, a good friend was the world to me in a time of need, not that anything had to be said, only the thought that I had a good friend and this was the place I grew up in. the smells, sounds, they all brought me back to a blurb of childhood, unclear of what was really happeneing. The sun set and cast the colors over the sky and the river drug tree branches past, thinking that where I was standing, I have seen it flooded many times in my life, yet here it is.

38°32'44.98"N

90°25'53.84"W

Personal\Public

One public place that is very personal to me is the park by my Grandpa's old house in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Pantown Park. I would see my Grandpa probably twice a year when I was little. We would make the long six hour haul to Minnesota and I would beg my dad to take me the minute we got there. It was a lot different than my park back home. It had long bridges and rocks to climb on. Also, across the field, which seemed like a mile, there was another playground which had tons of slides. I remember playing hot lova with my sister and I even remember this one time that we played with a kid whose four front teeth were silver. He was born that way. Just kidding, I think he wiped out on his mountain bike or something. Regardless, going to the park was one of the only child-centered activities when we visited. There wasn't really a lot of things to do as a kid. Mainly, everyone just watched television, and i would get restless. I liked playing with my action figures, drawing, and bothering relatives. But other than that it was playing in my Grandpa's tiny back yard or going to the park. Since the death of my Grandpa, five years ago, I haven't been to this park, let alone St. Cloud. Being gone for so long makes the park seem even more special.

In the picture you can see the upper left hand corner. That is where we would start. And the other park, which is a billion miles away was in the lower right hand corner. It looks like it's been torn down by now.

The coordinates are: Latitude-45°34'5.95"N, Longitude-94°11'37.26"W

Public/Personal

43.075126, -89.384143

A place that is public but very personal to me is the State Capitol. I was born and raised in Madison, moving to Milwaukee only after high school graduation to attend school. Although not all of my feeling are positive regarding Madison, the Capitol Square is where I can recall some of my fondest memories growing up. Every Saturday morning throughout the summer, the Capitol Square closes down to traffic as farmers from around the area fill the streets with vegetable stands and others goods. When I was younger my Mom would drag us out of bed, which I of course hated at the time, and downtown for the Farmers Market. Although I may have despised getting up so early on a Saturday when I was younger, I can even begin to count how many games of tag I played with my brothers on the Capitol Lawn. These you're more likely to see me protesting Walker on the Capitol Lawn creating new memories than playing tag. Yet none the less, every time I'm there I feel like that same kid running circles around the Capitol with my brothers not a care in the world.

Ally Santiago

The personal place that I have chosen to write about is actually a very public place that I’m sure a majority of our class has been to, Alterra on Humboldt. Ever since I was sixteen years old I knew I wanted to live in Milwaukee after graduation. I, in fact, was all accepted into school, signed up for classes, and had even found my future dorm mate on facebook when my parents broke the news to me that they were forcing me to stay at the two year UW system school in my hometown up north to get my general education classes out of the way. I cried almost every day they made me go to that school. After making me stays the full two miserable years, I finally was able to move to Milwaukee. On my first day living in Milwaukee, right after moving into my first apartment, I went to the Alterra on Humboldt with a friend from high school who was able to move to Milwaukee right after graduation. I ordered my coffee and sat down at their outside seating area. I looked around and at last realized I had made it to the place that I had worked so hard to get to for almost four years. Now every time I go there I cannot help but feel both a sense of nostalgia and accomplishment.


GPS Concordance: 43.072728,-87.897967