SALT LAKE CITY—After months of snow and heavy spring rains in the valley, the thaw made its way into Salt Lake City on Sunday. Liberty Park, 80 acres of tall trees, an aviary, small lake, and playgrounds with picnic tables sprung to life.
Kite flying is particularly challenging in Liberty Park, since most areas sport 100 feet to 150 feet high trees.
The high winds brought some of these flying creatures to a halt, as seen with this kite, though locked into the limbs of a tall tree, it still flies in the wind, but unable to move. There were remnants of four kites perched in the trees near the children’s playground.
Utah’s State Bird Makes Its Spring Début
Also flying above was Utah’s State Bird, the California Sea Gull.
History records that the seagulls appeared during a severe cricket infestation in the summer of 1848 in the Salt Lake Valley and they began to devour crickets that were devastating crops planted by the early Mormon settlers in the Salt Lake Valley.
For two weeks they would fly to the Great Salt Lake and disgorge their bounty and then return to the farms on the foothills to devour more of the insects. This miracle saved the local settlers and the next wagon train of settlers due to arrive in the fall from possible starvation.
Today, the gulls were flying overhead, plotting how to feed themselves, not on crickets, but preferring table delicacies evading the mouths of small children or a few breadcrumbs thrown into the air by adults and children picnicking in the park.
Many baby carriages sported young infants, who were suddenly introduced to the bright sunlight, and the dancing of children screaming and laughing with delight.
Gridlock at the Park – Parking Anyone?
Cars started lining up early this morning, though there are probably several thousand parking stalls, these were filled, as were street parking and Sunday vacant business parking lots, while others, betting for good luck, waited in a very long line slowly inching its way around the park, hoping for a car to pull out near them.
Seeing the picnic tables taken, this young couple merely set up ‘camp’ in the open and enjoyed lunch on a colorful blanket of fresh green grass and bright yellow dandelions springing up underneath them.
Yes, the Real Reason for Going to the Park…
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