Out of Sight

Run-down, abandoned, uninhabited: this merely defines a small community park in Penngrove. A diminutive play structure for toddlers is the first sign of what the park entails. There is a rusted and unwelcoming tin play house off the side, but it’s only visitors are spiders and nesting birds. An army of oak trees scatter a lush area obscuring the house of the park’s care-taker. It seems as if the park ends here, but past the rows of obtruding forestry, there is hidden wonderment. The road leading to the care-takers house is like the surface of the moon because of its excessive pot-holes. If a car, or even a person, can survive the treacherous craters in rickety road, they will come to a parking place with a shadowy cover, compliments of the towering trees. After a rainy season, the park becomes a soggy foundation that erodes even from the slightest weight. When the weather becomes warmer and the earth becomes as dry as the desert, the opulent green color of the grass deteriorates and it transforms into frail brown weeds.

An occasional guest to this park may be a person just walking their dog, and even sometimes a homeless person with no place else to go. The only excitement which pulls people from the community into the park is the annual Independence Day celebration barbeque. Though, for the other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year, there may be an arbitrary celebration in which the park is casually used.

Off to one side there is a set of climbing bars, and near it a slightly secluded path leading downward and away from the park. Grumbles from the creek are concealed by a high fence of blackberry bushes. The unmarked trail suddenly stops, but the dirty, brown water runs through and disappears around a corner. From across the bubbling stream, the fire station holds men as they await the momentous chime of the fire bell. At the other end of the park, it is silent. An elegant plum tree stands alone. A few dead leaves desperately grip its withering branches. An old tractor sits untouched underneath a huge oak tree. It is obvious that it has been unmoved for at least fifteen years. The once flamboyant red paint is now cracked and rusted over. Next to the decrepit figure lies four colossal tractor tires. It seems as if the rubbery giants were plunged into the earth, since only half is visible, and the rest is underground. To the left, beside the tires, resides a line of three swing sets. Two metal saddle horses squeak back and fourth, one red and one blue. The sticky metal chains clink together as they wait patiently for the eager hands of young children. Finally, to end the line, there is another pair of more mature swings. The swing’s elongated chains and larger seats over-take the other swing sets, casting a shadow over the park as the sun falls out of the sky.

In the very center of all the unexplainable features of the park, there is a prodigious structure. An imperial, yet grand gazebo sits pleasantly facing the entrance. Splinters of faded white wood flake off of the mass due to its antiquated state. As the fading sun gleams down on the ached roof, beams of light pierce through intricately designed window frames. Only three squeaky steps will bring a visitor into the octagonal gazebo. As I stand in the white gazebo, not only do I notice the empty baseball field encased with weeds, but I regard how it is never utilized anymore. It also becomes clear to me how the lonely railroad tracks have not met a train for some time. The wonder and enticing mystery of the gazebo is a certain piece of what this dignified park has to offer.

While the park may give others a feeling of eerie discomfort, I feel strangely at ease when I wander through the gates. Even while the ancient redwood trees cast lengthy and ominous shadows, all fear dissipates when I see that white gazebo. A beacon of commonality for the entire community of Penngrove. Of the local people to Penngrove, many of them have resided in this humble community for fifty years or more. These people dedicate their lives to supporting the area as best they can, which is why they organize specific events in the comfortable surroundings of Penngrove Park.

Nia