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. 

Sky

The sky was beautiful when I got home yesterday evening.

Outside my windows

The sunrise was very pretty this morning.

It is really nice to have several trees outside my office windows. There was a squirrel outside my window for a long time this afternoon. Perhaps it was enjoying the slightly warmer weather or at least the sun which has been in short supply this month. 

At some point it appeared to have gotten sleepy and was taking a nap - with one eye open.

Close encounter with a woodpecker. Now with video!

Last fall I had a close encounter with a woodpecker. I posted a photo then but have finally gotten around to putting a short video clip up at Youtube.

Book, cat, and rain

My new book arrived.

It's a neat tome and has an entry per day so I can get a microdose of nature every morning to start my day.

Here's Piper this afternoon catching some rays on my clean comforter.

Finally, here's a shot of the rain from a morning earlier this week. I eschewed the auto settings which brighten everything into unreality.

First perambulations of 2026

New Year's Day was relatively temperate and snowy which meant I got to start 2026 with a morning walk without having to bundle up too much.

The sky poured generally large flakes down on me but, since it was only around 22, most were quickly blown off my coat and hat by the gentle breezes. Highway 30 provided its usual annoying automobilic ambience but it wasn't too busy as many people were still at home sleeping or nursing hangovers. Starkweather Creek was frozen over in some spots. 

Once on the north side of the highway, I again pondered how to photograph a bike trail bridge. Their mixes of curves and Wrightian straight lines seem full of potential but I still haven't discovered a way to take a good photograph of them that somehow captures the way they fit into their environment.

A nearby oak tree had decided not to shed its leaves and the brown & tan hues added a slight hint of color to the otherwise white and grey landscape.

I took the creekside path where I saw one woodpecker plying its trade and heard another. On a tree that had fallen into the creek I spied a blue jay taking a break from bullying the other birds in the area.

By this time the din of the highway was inaudible and it was only the occasional plane that disturbed the serenity of the scene.

Once onto the bike path again I hoofed it for a little while before deciding to veer into the woods and follow the off-road bike path, something I hadn't done in 5 years or so.

Immediately I saw that I was not alone as there were bike tire tracks from those big, knobby winter bike tires in the snow. This meant that A) I was not alone and B) that I could avoid any "To Build a Fire" incidents by simply following them. I eventually made my way east to try to find that Blair Witch area with all the Barbie dolls in the trees that I ran into last time I was in these woods.

As I was walking along the trail at one point I heard a squeal from behind me. Turning to look, I found that the sound was from bicycle brakes and that there was an intrepid rider back at the last curve. It turned out to be a gentleman in his late 20s, methinks, who proved to be quite amiable as we ended up chatting for a few minutes.

He explained that his New Year's resolution was to get out on his bike more often and he figured he'd start on day 1. In addition, he told me that there was another biker out as well and I surmised it was this person's tracks that I had followed into the woods. Before long my interlocutor was off and I continued my trek down the path.

It wasn't long before I ran into ruins from the Truax air base. 

I cannot remember what these fire hydrant-like things are called - they are to open or close valves that are underground.

Bits that were off the path and shrouded in leaves the last time I was in these parts were now revealed.

Some Norwegian had visited since the last time I was here as there were trolls at a couple spots where the trail split.

I eventually found the area that had had dolls, a beer bottle, and so on hanging from branches. Barbie had fled and all that was left was the head of a turtle from a plush thingy that had been whole on my last visit.

With my mission accomplished, I continued along the trail until I reached the paved bike path and headed home. There I heated up some coffee and reclined on the couch where Piper curled up on my lap. 

A splendid way to begin 2026. Quality time amongst the trees as the snow crunched beneath my feet and the chilly breeze licking my cheeks. And I got to chat with someone new. Walks like this are a big reason why I adore winter.

2 January 2026

The Green Man is back

I finally got my Green Man stained glass hung at the new place.

I am looking forward to the view when the trees have leaves. But I am enjoying the winter.

Some highlights of 2025

2025 has been quite a ride and it will soon end. The year, at any rate. The ride, perhaps not.

My divorce is likely the biggest event of the year for me. But 2025 has been more, much more, than just the beginning to the legal end of my marriage. Several people have entered or re-entered my life since being served papers. I found myself in the company of people that I would never have thought I'd be spending time with and have experienced quite a bit this year that was new and/or unexpected.

There were countless final things done with my wife and first times without her. Traditions were laid to rest and new ones born. Many new places, many new people. Some adventure was had in the UK, majesty in Concord.

A modest look back at 2025 in pictures.

HONK! was fantastic and Boston has become an annual trip for me. I love this Trump's Cthulhuy coif.

A most unexpected find on a hike.

Thanksgiving this year was the first in 20 years or so that I didn't spend with my wife. Instead I spent the day at the homes of two kind and generous people. At one I got to see Piper's brother, Gibson. 

While there I sampled a luscious mango turmeric ginger tart. Or was it a torte?

It was simply delicious and I befriended its maker. I now have someone to visit should I find myself in Evanston.

2025 was the year I attended my first Chicago International Puppet Festival. It was fantastic!

Back in October I moved out of our marital residence and over to Eken Park where I found that one of my neighbors was rather fond of Halloween.

My wife and I visited the Northside Lounge. Despite some awkward moments, we managed to have a decent time. I like the contrast in this rather spare photograph.

Our last trip together was to Milwaukee in May where we caught both nights of The Magnetic Fields. It was also the last time that we managed to spend any significant time together in something resembling harmony.

I made multiple trips to the lovely Morton Forest, a real treasure. 

In a seemingly never ending parade of attempts to spend as little time at home as possible, I finally made a visit to The Cat's Brew.

My friend who lives just a couple blocks away has a neighbor with this wonderful greenhouse. 

It's been great living so close to this friend as we now see each other fairly frequently and Piper has a new caretaker for times when I am out of town.

My trip to Boston saw me visit Walden Pond where I experienced the sublime.

While in England, I ran into this statue of Lucifer rather cunningly placed just outside the Ozzy Osbourne exhibit. 

The same museum also had a really cool exhibit about disabled people of color.

At another museum I got to stand before a steam engine from 1799 that was designed and/or built by James Watt himself. A piece of the Industrial Revolution that transformed the world. It still works. Amazing!

There were some nice pubs over in the UK.

Inside the Craven Arms looked like Sherlock Holmes' drawing room.

While I continue to get used to my new digs and still need to buy bookshelves, I do not miss my wife's clutter which occupied so much of our home. 

Earlier this month I made a return trip to the Christkindlmarkt in downtown Chicago.

I may have a marzipan addiction.

Chicago TARDIS was a blast again this year. My wife and I began attending in 2009 and, although she stopped going last year, it was this year that made me really feel like the tradition that we built together was truly over and now I had to make my own.

And so I have. I now meet my mother and a cousin at a nearby Greek restaurant. Making a visit at the Qamaria coffeehouse threatened to become a tradition but, since they opened an outpost here in Madison, I'll be going to the other Yemeni coffee place in Lombard.

I attended a panel hosted by the indelible Tony Whitt.

A gentleman and a scholar, Tony is the master of all things Target Novelizations. He approached me at another panel discussion to say thanks for attending his and chat for a bit.

My downstairs neighbor has a dog whom I caught staring at me one day.

My neighbor is a nice lady. She waves when either of us drive by the other. If the aromas from her kitchen are any indicator, she's also a fine cook. I am still getting acclimated to having downstairs neighbors as it has been a while since I've had any. But, if I am to have one, she is a good choice.

2025 may have marked the second anniversary of Grabby's death but she's never too far from my thoughts. 

 

 

2026 promises Chicago TARDIS once more and another trek out to the Boston area. But before any adventures in far off lands I plan to start a new tradition on the first day of the new year.