Whenever I rest in the Midwood, near Prospect Park's Battle Pass, I marvel at how a sacred American battlefield (the Battle of Brooklyn, our first big smackdown of the Revolution) hides in plain, if lovely, sight. Where these daffodils recently bloomed, patriots were skewered to trees by Prussian and British bayonets. Nothing marks the hallowed ground except two bronze plaques affixed to boulders.
But there's a sadder incongruity: The wooded area is a cruising ground often littered with the nasty remnants of "romantic" encounters and assorted binges. Huge props go to fellow blogger Marie Viljoen of 66 Square Feet for getting outraged enough to prod the park into providing backup and supplies for a "Litter Mob" set to attack the area with gloves, bags and picker-uppers.
When? Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, May 10, 9 A.M. If you are a soul unfettered by job constraints at that hour, join us at the intersection of the Center and East Drives (map below shows the spot). Come and let us make reparations for those slobs who would desecrate the beauty of nature and a birthplace of liberty! (Whew--that is a lot of ennobling invocation for a Monday.)
Battle of Brooklyn image: The Old Stone House
DID YOU TAKE ANY MEMBER TOURS LAST SATURDAY?
Speaking of crowd-sourcing...
I missed the day of Members-only tours last Saturday--some of them sounded really cool. If you went along and have any good shots or observations, please share; e-mail them to me at brenda "at" tenthleper.us (using the little "at" thingie, not the word "at"). Thanks!
It always makes me pensive and rather sad to find abandoned 'sacred sites', whether churchyards or battlefields or the house someone significant once moved in and had their being.
Is it a sign of our times, or just the way humans are? Why is it so easy to forget?
Unforgivable, though, is the slovenliness of littering.
Good luck with the cleanup, and God bless you all for caring!
Posted by: Aleta Curry | May 09, 2011 at 07:42 PM