The first thing I noticed is how low the Roanoke River is.
Normally the grass in the middle is covered by flowing water. Now it resembles a grassy marshland that would not allow any of the kayaks or canoes navigation.
I was happy to see the blue heron again.
And I was thrilled to see a white egret for the first time.
I tried to zoom in but I couldn't get close enough with the optical so this is the crappy image from the digital zoom...
That's him flying away...
I tried to get closer to it, but where there was once a clear view of the river, it's now covered with six foot weeds.
One of the stark differences between this month and the last time I walked along the Greenway was how unkempt it has become. Besides the fallen trees the weeds are almost impenetrable. The City of Salem had planted trees in the spring. They're in those plastic tubes that are being engulfed by grass. No mowing has been done in quite a while. Many of the trees have emerged from the top of the tubes and look like they're going to be smothered if they're not released soon. What's the point of planting trees if they're going to be forgotten? Naturally the grass around them needs to be mowed.
It looks like no progress has been made at all on the Greenway.
If anything, the Greenway is beginning to look like a dump with broken bottles,
and dog shit everywhere.
Disgusting. So now besides having to dodge bicyclists us walkers have to dodge dog piles. I saw many dog walkers, and wondered how many of them had any sort of plastic bags on them to pick up their dog's waste. I looked at the size of their dogs and tried to gauge which one dumped which load. Maybe Salem needs to place those little boxes along the path that contain plastic bags for the inconsiderate dog owners. I'm sure this little guy carrying a stick bigger than he is wouldn't think about leaving his waste right in the middle of the path. Too cute.
The picnic tables are now chained and grafitti has marred them. I'm really surprised that Salem, who "prides itself" on so many things has allowed this Greenway to go to pot. Amongst all the dirt, debris, overgrown grasses and weeds I found something interesting growing.
Two corn stalks can grow in this mess yet I can't get a decent vegetable from my garden!
Greenways are lovely until they're allowed to deteriorate. This one's not even a year old. C'mon Salem you can do better than this.
