The climbfish have now evolved to cover my life in the US - including very exiting life in downtown Baltimore (aka the wire) and ocean research expeditions with NOAA. I don't promise frequent updates but I will try and cover the most and least exiting times here. Enjoy! (c) climbfish.com, all rights reserved
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
GOOD and EVIL - the dark side of town!
Angela serving soup at Bouillabaisse Cafe, best lunch place in Baltimore!
Yesterday I went for a bike ride to Patapsco state park and back. It all started well, sun was out and my first stop was to pick up lunch at my favorite restaurant in Baltimore, the Bouillabaisse Cafe. Angela who owns it together with her husband is a beacon of light!
A treasure on 316 Park Ave
She always give me way more then I ask for and charges less then her already modest prices suggest. She also serves fantastic soups (cream of crabs on Monday - highly recommended, and the bouillabaisse seafood soup on Thursdays is phenomenal), and keep her culturally mixed audience (Mormons, politicians, homeless, business people, swedes to name a few) entertained with snappy replies and a happy laughs. First time when I arrived there with Brian, she was just about to close. But instead of showing us the door she asked us: How hungry are you? When we said we were pretty hungry she opened her shop and served us delicious soup and subs
Austin trying to spot fish for me, to no vain...
After a fun day with Austin biking and fishing our way through the Patapsco river valley I started to make my way home. I had decided to follow the bike route through Gwynns Falls Park, sort of infamous for crime but it turned out to be quite a nice bike ride most of the way between Patapsco and downtown.
Biking around I've noticed how much litter there is in
some areas. Often when I have been hiking and fishing on
relatively pristine places near the city I have encounter plastic and garbage
laying around.
It has somewhat surprised me that such a rich and developed
country doesn't take better care of the local environment around here. But
what I encountered along "dead run" running through the Gwynns falls park on the estate of Crimea (guess that should have given me a pointer), was really quite disgusting. There was so much plastic garbage that the whole river looked like a big dump site.
Prime recreational river running trough Baltimore city, time to start cleaning up!
The main stream "dead run" and the creeks running in to it
smelled strongly of raw sewage water (I know that smell really well since a
glorious summer job as waste water technician). So it seems like the properties in the area were sending sewage
water directly into the streams and into the Chesapeake bay watershed.
A small pond of plastic bottles swarming the shore. Recycle?
What makes it worse is that it's a really pretty river and park with great potential of being a prime recreational (read fishing...) area for the city with beautiful historic surroundings. From what I have seen of other streams running through Baltimore and into the Chesapeake bay it's not the only one heavily polluted, dumping serious wast into the ocean (it takes something like 400 years before plastic breaks down). It makes me angry...
Pieces of plastic everywhere, much of it looks like the bags you get in the supermarket
Most of the plastic wrapping around everything we shop feels so unnecessary. Make a small contribution and bring some reusable bags and a backpack when you go (Christmas) shopping - save some plastic from getting used/produces. And give away experiences instead (theater tickets, pole dancing classes and so on). As a gear maniac I do not live like I teach, but I do try...
Heal the world..! Sorry for the ranting.
Ending on a positive note. Yesterday was Lucia day, a Swedish tradition. We eat gingerbread, drink glögg and sing/listen to Lucia chores. I found a random you tube video for you to enjoy it to! I know it looks like the kids are dressed up like Ku Klux clan, but they really are saints!
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