Sunday in the (Eken) Park

When I moved into Eken Park last fall I fully intended to take a stroll around my new neighborhood to get the lay of the land, see what there was to see, and get some photographs of the fall colors. Eken Park the Park™ was resplendent in its autumnal yellows and oranges. My plans were foiled by weather, travel, time taken to get my apartment together, and laziness/procrastination. They kept getting pushed off for another day and then the next thing I know the day that all the leaves had fallen somehow arrived. 

On Sunday temperatures climbed into very springlike 50s and I had intended to enjoy the nice weather by walking to a friend's house to drop off some pelmeni but we had trouble communicating so I grabbed my camera and headed out to do some wandering. On my travels I managed to get photos of the many Trachte buildings in Eken Park, which I've posted already, but also of the scenery and things that simply caught my eye.

Eken Park is named after brothers Thomas and Ole Eken who were Norwegian immigrants. A large chunk of the neighborhood was formerly the Eken family farm with the rest of it belonging to the Stang and McCormick families who now have streets named after them. It looks like the western part of the neighborhood along North Street, which had a streetcar line, was built up in the 1920s while the area further east was developed in the 1940s with smaller, often prefab, homes for the working class employees of the nearby Oscar Mayer plant as well as returning G.I.s.

Overall it has a similar look and timeline to Eastmorland, the neighborhood that I moved from. 

The Madison Airport was north of Coolidge Street where Highway 30 and the Bridges golf course are today. The airport hosted the Ringling Brothers Circus for many years.

With the isthmus filling up with luxury apartments and home prices that are egregiously expensive, Eken Park has become at least moderately trendy and home to many younger folks who cannot afford something closer to downtown. My guess is that the neighborhood is still home to a fair number of working class people but that population is declining. However, the apartments along Oak and Pawling streets, along with others, will no doubt continue to give the area a working class tint for some time to come.

Eken Park is not a particularly large neighborhood but there is a noticeable contrast between the patrons of Ogden's North Street Diner and those that I see going in and out of the apartments on Oak Street.

Onto my stroll. 

This house managed to winterize some Halloween decorations and combine them with some greenery.

While I am sad that the Oscar Mayer plant no longer processes meat and provides employment for thousands, I am also glad that, since I now live in Eken Park, I do not have to inhale of the aroma of hot dogs being made which was like a pungent delight but the exact opposite.

One of my neighbors is an Alice in Wonderland fan, it seems.

Ogden's looked to be doing brisk business as I walked by with a trio of women outside waiting for a table. A couple houses down I heard the cadence of wood being hit. At first I thought it was someone taking advantage of the weather to do some home maintenance. Then, after really listening, I realized the sound emanated from above and had to be a woodpecker. Indeed it was.  I think it was a downy. 

Despite being in plain sight, I struggled to find it in my camera's viewfinder and so my photography was half-assed, at best, here.

I like this picture on the door of a garage which is Trachte-shaped but sided so as to obscure its origins.

Those are some badass fish and fowl. The second instance of a non-human animal smoking seen on my walk.

I presume this building was an office and/or some kind of switching station for Ma Bell back in the day. No idea what is there today.

While Eken Park the Park™ lacked foliage, it still looked quite pleasant with families at the west end with kids enjoying the playground.

Someone's front yard had been transformed into a metallic sculpture garden. Look there! Formerly encased in a block of ice...Holy sh*t! It's Godzilla!

 

 

When I was ambling right in the bowels of the neighborhood - down Maywood and Stang south of Commerical Avenue and on Fairfield Place, I got this feeling of being somewhere new, as if I was no longer just a few blocks from home. Perhaps not even in Madison. These streets are very beautiful with mature trees, a smattering of pre-war homes along with ones from the 40s that don't look pre-fab/cookie cutter. A very nice area.

 

A lovely stroll through my new neighborhood. I am looking forward to doing it again when the scenery is more verdant and more colorful with flowers in bloom.