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26 August 2010
30 minute walk
Today my grandson came by to mow the lawn and have lunch with me. We had leftover stew from last night's dinner, a new recipe for me that ran my BG numbers up a bit last night. Same thing today, so I headed out to get some exercise to run my number down a bit. Another good reason for a photo walk was to document our new Mason City Hall and Police Station. Following are photos concentrating on the new City Hall building and the immediate environs.
Click on any photo to see a larger version in a popup window (no photo information). |
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| My first step was to reach the intersection of West Oak Street and Jefferson St. The brick building is the old Mason Schools Administration Building. It appears to be up for sale. Apparently the administration offices are now housed in the old Cedar Street School, the elementary school recently closed for budget reasons. I went in this old Administration building once, to get a Senior Citizen pass for Mason schools sporting events. I'll probably make use of my pass again to attend the Mason High School football game. An interesting little story about this administration building ... my old house on East Oak Street had the same number, so from time to time supplies for the administrators arrived at my house by mistake. Since Jefferson Street is the divider between East and West it was only about one block away from the proper delivery location, so it wasn't a big deal. Now my daughter's family has to deal with this "problem", though now that they have moved to a new building it shouldn't be a problem any more ... I wonder if the new occupants will get a lot of shipments? The third picture above shows the same street, with the new Mason City Hall building at the end of the block. |
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| Several views of the new Mason City Hall building, which also houses the Mason Police Department. The middle picture shows the parking lot at the side of the building used for police cars. |
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| It was a sunny day and the windows of City Hall were very reflective, so I took this self portrait using the tilt-swivel display screen for composing the shot. The last photo is a view of the parking lot from the front of the building. |
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| More photos of the parking area. There is a wide strip between the parking lot and Ash Street that is currently being groomed for planting. This is sure to be a most attractive area. The first photo shows the parking lot towards the west, showing the fire department building in the background. The second shows the City Hall building from Ash Street, showing the wide area for planting. After walking west towards the Fire Department I took the third photo towards the east, showing the Mason Public Library on the right and the post office on the left. The clock tower of the Ingham County Courthouse gleems white in the distance. |
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| Here are three photos of the "new" fire department building. The fire department use to be in the building now housing the Los Tres Amigos Mexican restaurant. For many years I lived across the street from the "old" fire department and was wakened many nights by the sirens of the volunteer firemen hurrying to the station to answer an alarm. One door was open allowing this view of one of the impressive fire engines. |
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| Looking north from Ash Street the Mason Elevator Company complex can be seen. As I arrived at the railroad crossing I turned south and "walked the tracks". This isn't as dangerous as it might sound since it is easy to see some distance away, the trains always move slowly through Mason and the trains always sound their beautiful whistles when approaching pupulated areas. |
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| The first photo above shows a view from the railroad tracks with a small storage building of the fire department and the back of the new City Hall building. The tracks looked very nice today with fresh stones liffling between the ties and along the sides of the track. This made walking the tracks much easier than in the past, when I had to be careful not to step in a gap between the ties and trip or twist an ankle. Occasionally along the tracks I run into what looks like driftwood. Doesn't this look like the shoreline? |
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| Another shot shows the neat appearance of the tracks, indicating some maintenance work on the tracks. The last photo is a close-up of the gravel between the tracks showing some shiny tar from recent work. The middle photo is another glimpse of the new City Hall building from the tracks. |
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| Walking south I came to Elm Street crossting the tracks. In the distance, on the larger version of the first photo, you can see a car crossing the tracks on Jefferson Street. Jefferson Street is a busy street in Mason, so the railroad crossing has automated gates that block traffic when a train is approaching. Elm Street is a lightly used street which is one-way at this location. The crossing just has a stop sign and warning sign for traffic to watch for approaching trains. The stop sign can just be seen here. From this intersection there is a nice view of the Jefferson Street Square building, which is a retirement community. From this point you can also get a glimpse of the new City Hall building. |
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| Turning left (east) on Elm Street you come immediately to the steep hill leading to Jefferson Street. There is a long cement stairway leading up to the Jefferson Street Square parking lot. Continuing home I walked by the USA flag, one of many on display in Mason. |
