2026 Miscellany #2 — ice edition

Scranton Flats, Cuyahoga River 16 February

When most of Lake Erie is frozen over, spots on the Cuyahoga are often clear. The thermal pollution warms the water, and the ducks and other birds have a place to land and swim. Still, corpses of those who either froze, or starved to death are seen.

mostly red breasted mergansers, common winter visitors/migrants

Sunlight did not help this one, on Scranton in Cleveland, a dog care business.

A local television news story mentioned these placards/posters appearing in Cleveland on vacant commercial buildings.  I wonder, whether this is nation wide.  I suppose the supporters of American Gestapo are none too pleased.  Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi as a rapster uses the name Kid Cudi.  As a painter, he is Scotty Ramon. These posters are signed Scotty Ramon.

2025 Miscellany #21

drake mallard with color, Coe Lake Berea

color contrast Coe Lake Berea

 

water bowl outside a shop in Chagrin Falls

Cleveland Metroparks "teamed up" with Cleveland's basketball team, sand sculpture Edgewater Beach.

Off Euclid's Lakeshore Blvd., there is a street lined with red maples on the tree lawns. In mid November, it is in peak color.

Only spot on East 210th that has complimentary plantings.

 street view

Perun the pup sits on a light bed of fallen leaves. 

2024 Miscellany #8—another central Ohio road trip

Tuesday was a day full of beautiful clouds. Monday rained after overly warm days, and Wednesday rained as a colder day.

Khaki Campbell drake relaxing in Scioto Park Dublin. There were four escaped farm ducks there.

Dublin Arts Council has three snails from Cracking Art Collective. Cleveland had a larger contingent in the summer of 2016 [click].

AFL founded in 1886 in Columbus.

some interesting geometry in downtown Columbus

Winston the Welsh terrier, and his guardian/companion we met in Columbus. He pointed out that he had a cap with a Welsh terrier on it, while i had a greyhound on my cap. Winston had a collar full of Welsh dragon flags.

 

Painting in the Columbus Park of Roses

Norfolk & Western W2 2-8-0  Baldwin 1903 

Four companies made 202 of these steam locomotives between 1901 and 1905. This one is the only one that did not go to scrap. Number 917 operated until 1950.  In 2008 it came north to Ohio. It sits in Belleville with a diner made from a luggage car and a caboose.

The building was Bissman Wholesale Grocer Brewer Hotel is an awning made for the Shawshank Redemption moving picture. Mansfield has used that time for tourist promotion.

Mansfield, the front of this building was seen in Shawshank Redemption as the Brewer Hotel. They drank Stroh's in the movie. If you look closely, you can see Mail Pouch Tobacco underneath. Schlitz was the number one beer in America in 1902, and several times thereafter. It once was a good beer, and in the 1970s it was reformulated to be a bad beer.

Summit Lake

Ohio and Erie Canal had a towpath on Summit Lake on a boardwalk where the mules pulled. The first canal boat left in 1827. The railroads took much of the canal business in the 1860s. After that canal system was used as a water source for business and industries. Summit Lake (Firestone) Pump House began in 1911 pumping water for the rubber companies, and waste water was fed into the lake. Some decades ago the pump house became idled. In the summer of 2021, the pump house became a nature center. Akron gave the building to Summit Metroparks, and they made it into a nature center, and are continuing to add and, this is important—upkeep and maintain the park.

Also the lake was a site for parks beginning in the 1880s. Summit Beach Amusement Park was in operation from 1917 to 1958. It had the world's largest tile pool (75'x180'); the health department forbid swimming in the polluted lake. The Wisteria Ballroom claimed to be the world’s largest dance floor. A Ferris wheel, a roller rink, a carousel, and other amenities were there too. Rapid decline in quality came in the 1950s.

coots a.k.a. mudhens

The lake above the buried sediment is clean to have much waterfowl now. My camera was too weak to get clear pictures from a certain distance. Coots (mudhens) were very numerous. When one was close enough to shore, its one note call could be heard. It sounds like a mechanical pulse. Canadian geese were plentiful, a few ring billed gulls, and some individuals of several duck species. Besides the ones shown below, there were mallards of course, but also redheads, canvasbacks, shovelers, ruddy, and bufflehead ducks.

male old squaw (now called long-tailed duck) in winter plumage, a sea duck

same bird with a lesser scaup

male hooded merganser

Parking is an ability some people are not good at.

Between the lake and highway construction some tree removal was done. Some lovely grain, slices would be good for table tops.