Fresh Pond Rules of the Road, posted after we contacted Ranger Jeanne

Two weeks ago, I stopped to thank Ranger Jean Rogers for the information she sent after I emailed her about almost being run off the path at Fresh Pond, in Cambridge–and to mention it that I’d posted it on New Cambridge Observer (September 11).

She told me that several people had similar complaints, and that her office would soon be posting signs suggesting proper “etiquette.” (She also suggested that I call the police if anyone ran roughshod like that, again).

On my run this morning, I was pleased to see that signs outlining etiquette have been posted.

They apply to runners, walkers, bikers and dog people. (Well, to everyone)

• Keep to the right
• Pass on the left and make your presence known.
• Slow down when passing
• Keep your dog on a leash
• Be aware of your surroundings . When running with ear buds. check behind you before passing.
• Kindly move off the path to stop and talk.
• Slower-moving people stay to the right
• Use lights when it’s dark.
• See Fresh Pond Reservation Rules and Regulations for off-leash use.

Fresh Pond, Sept 24, 2017

.I want to apologize for occasionally running on the dirt path to the left of the blacktop–but only because, in some areas, the dirt path is very narrow and overrun with bushes or, worse, yet, poison ivy.

I also want to thank Ranger Jean for her help with this.

Anita Harris

Anita M. Harris is a writer, photographer and wunner (she walks and runs?)  in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, also of Cambridge.

Fresh Pond, Cambridge
Credit: Anita M. Harris

I often run at Fresh Pond. True,  I have a “running” debate with my exercise app, which sometimes  calls what I do “walking”  but be that as it may… I have struck up a number of very cordial relationships, there, with the dogs and their humans.

Ordinarily,  everyone is quite friendly (though I can get a bit ferocious when a human attached to three dogs on leashes blocks the entire width of running path).

But a  few weeks ago,  I ran into a spate of ungracious humans who yelled at me that I was running on the wrong side of the road, gave me the finger (to be honest, I responded in kind)  and one who even tried to force me off the dirt path. I asked Ranger Jean Rodgers if there are right-of-way rules for the Pond. 

Here’s her response.

Dear Anita,

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your experiences here at Fresh Pond Reservation.  I’m sorry to hear you are having some less than civil interactions with other users.  Soft running surfaces are in short supply here at Fresh Pond.  No one has a right to them to the exclusion of others. As with all public spaces, sharing and civility are required however frustrating.   If most people keep to the right as they are able, travel on the Perimeter Road would have a level of predictability.  

The behavior of others as you have reported it is unacceptable for any reason.  I will post some signs in our information boards, the ranger station and at entrances excerpted from the street code booklet that help visitors know that sharing and civil interactions are  expected.

The City has just issued “Street Code, Rules and Etiquette for Getting There Together” to address the need for safe and civil behavior when people are moving about the City’s Public Spaces.  Shared Path Etiquette is addressed on page 16. I plan to post it around the Reservation.  http://bit.ly/CambridgeStreetCode  

Here’s a summary and some links to our Shared Use Plan that was developed a while ago with the public to encourage civil interactions and use of Fresh Pond Reservation:

https://www.cambridgema.gov/Water/freshpondreservation/aboutfreshpond/shareduse

Shared Use Plan 

As the terminal reservoir in the water system that provides drinking water to the City of Cambridge, Fresh Pond Reservation serves as in important buffer to protect the health and water quality of Fresh Pond.  The Reservation is also an important open space for Cambridge residents and visitors. Due to limited space on paths, trails, and open areas, as well as increasing popularity due to restoration efforts, occasional conflicts among users can arise. To address these conflicts, the City sought to engage the public in order to develop a shared vision for future use and a clear implementable plan between the Summer 2010 and Spring 2011. The result of this process was the Shared Use Plan with the intent to accomplish the following objectives (in no particular order):
*Protect the flora, fauna, and overall ecosystem and water supply, 
*Promote a welcoming and safe place, 
*Provide for a multitude of recreational activities, 
*Promote mutual respect and civility among users, 
*Improve communication among users and with those managing the Reservation, 
*Provide for additional education and opportunities to participate in stewardship, 
*Enhance user safety and enforcement through rules that are easy to understand, posted, and enforceable, 
*Provide for enjoyment by current and future generations. 

Please feel free to put the ranger phone number (617 349-xxxx) in your phone contact list and call me to come out and assist if you if people don’t settle down and share the space with you.   I do my best to answer the phone whether I’m on or off duty.   If someone threatens you or puts a hand on you, call the police for immediate assistance (911 or at their business number 617 349-3300).

We all matter and we all make a difference.

Jean Rogers
Chief Ranger
Fresh Pond Reservation

Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, also in Cambridge.

Met my summer goal of running around Fresh Pond, this morning (with brief stopover at Starbucks, at Fresh Pond Shopping Center-and frequent stops to shoot these photos). Next time–all the way!

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and marketing firm located in Cambridge, MA.

Photos by Anita M. Harris; kindly request permission and link before re-posting.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and content marketing firm located in Cambridge, MA.

Happy to report that Frankenstorm caused little damage in my immediate neighborhood or on my running path but this downed tree is evidence of Hurricane Sandy’s force, last night.

—Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and blogger in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a strategic publications and online marketing firm based in Kendall Square, Cambridge.

Waiting for Fledges to Fly 6-04-11

In May, I ran into an acquaintance who said she’d been totally busy and frazzled–and was totally behind in her work. Why? ” I’ve been watching the hawks across from the Fresh Pond Shopping Center,” she said, sheepishly. I thought this was nuts: this is a 50-something professional woman with a responsible job–utterly fascinated with watching two red-tailed hawks build a nest and a family on the ledge of an office building in Cambridge. For the second year in a row.

These hawks aren’t even rare in these parts–plenty of people have seen them in the renowned  Mt. Auburn  Cemetery, nearby, but,  evidently there’s something mesmerizing about watching hawks lay eggs, help them hatch, watch over the babies and teach  them to fly— all next to a highway that runs between Cambridge and Arlington. Ok.  Each to her own.  (Ridiculous is what I really thought).

The other day, I went to do some shopping at Trader Joe’s–and from the parking lot, spotted a crowd in front of the office building, nearby.  Yup-it was them. Looking up at a nest under the roof at 185 Alewife Brook Parkway.

Skeptical, but curious, I pulled out my cell phone and asked the guy to the far left if it was OK to take a picture of him. Sure, he said.

George McLean

“I’ve been here since February, ” he said. “Six hours a day.”  Turned out he was George McLean,  a professional photographer, now retired.  “I  saw Buzz and Rubie -those are the parents-‘making whoopie’–so the group named one of the fledges ‘Georgie, after me.” Their  sibs are Honey and Yahoo (after Jonathan Swift’s land of the Yahoos). “We’ve been waiting for them to fly for weeks… today could be the day.”

Or not.

He tells me that people  have been photo- and videographing these birds since January.

Here’s a link to the babies hatching– http://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/44293 ;  another, of Georgie flopping on his face http://atlanta.pointslocal.com/story/atlanta/316332/185-alewife-red-tail-hawk-chick-takes-a-big-flop and, yet another, to video at Cambridge Community Television. http://www.cctvcambridge.org/subject/nature?page=8 .

Last week, George tells me, one of them tried to fly but fell off the ledge  into the parking lot.

People seem mesmerized;  there’s definitely an atmosphere of suspense.

I figure, “I’m here, what the heck,” and start shooting photos of the nest.  It’s quite high up–seven stories–I can make out a few birds but can’t really see them, very  well.

I’m zooming in  to get a close look–when a gasp goes through the crowd–a fledge has spread his wings.

I missed it. Damn.   I shoot again. Got it.  And again-Got that one, too.

And again…and again. I’m getting excited, now…and so is George.

He’s flapping his arms, like wings. When will one of these babies take off?

I’m thinking I wish I could  stay..but  company is coming to my house.

Later that afternoon, I check the Internet for news of the fledges…nothing yet.

And again the next day, which is Sunday.

But on Monday, driving by 185–I see an empty corner–and an empty nest. The hawks must have done their thing…

On the group’s yahoo site,   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/185redtails/message/700 ,  one of the observers,  Bonnie, has written that when she arrived at 185  on the morning of  June 6, Buzz and Ruby were “doing a happy dance…. soaring and flying together over 185, over Whole Foods parking lot, and over to the apartment towers and back.” The fledges had flown.

And, according to Paul Roberts,

Life has changed for us all…[At 5:21 AM] this morning,  the baby, Whitey flew directly from the nest towards the CVS sign, where Buzz and Ruby were perched with food….Whitey flew directly and strongly to the CVS sign, but reportedly got only part of his talons on top and could not land, dropping down onto the roof of a Garelick Milk truck, where he got comfortable on top of their refrigerator compressor.

Roberts tells a gripping tale of  the fledges’ struggle to find their new place in the wild world outside the nest–attacked by blue jays, unable to perch…Animal control is called….

To my surprise, based on my 0wn brief experience at 185, I have to agree. See you there, next year?

Anita  M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a marketing communications and public relations firm in Cambridge, MA.

Apologies, once again, for the long absence….but this time I have a good excuse. I’ve moved  to the country!

Actually, I still live in Cambridge–but after 29 years in that lofty perch overlooking the Cambridge Common I now live in a new house–just across from Fresh Pond Reservoir.

New home, new neighborhood, new outlook on life–less than a mile and a quarter from Harvard Square.

A few observations:

When I told people I was moving after so many years in the same building, I usually got one of the following responses:

(1) Why are you moving NOW? (As if I should die in a place I NEVER liked. Too little space, too much noise and no parking!)

and

(2) That’s wonderful. Now you have a good reason to get rid of your stuff. (Huh? The main reason I”m moving is that I want more ROOM for my stuff).

The new place is gorgeous-three floors, a garage, a basement, big windows, light…and just a 10-minute bike ride from my favorite morning coffee haunt.  There’s a grocery store nearby, a gym, a Chinese restaurant…I have nice neighbors who like gardening so much that they bought some plants that they take care of in my front yard.  When you walk down the street, people actually smile and say “hello”

Yesterday, my friend Susan and I walked around the reservoir.  On a Sunday afternoon, it felt rather like a Parisian promenade, except that it’s 2.2 miles in  circumference and there were many, many dogs. Part-way round,  theCity of Cambridge Water Department  is renovating…that’s not what they call it…but setting up ramps for people disabilities, a walkway out over the water and something called a vernal pond–which, I now know, courtesy of Susan and Wikipedia, is a temporary or “emphermeral” pool.

These pools, devoid of fish, are dry for at least part of the year but when filled (usually in the Spring) they teem with life such as frogs, toads, salamanders, daphnia and fairy shrimp–the last of which are often used to decisively define a vernal pool.

Close by the pool, we met  MWRA Ranger Jean–who, with a colleague, was posting a sign explaining all of the above. She welcomed us to the neighborhood and told  us to say hi to people and dogs–who, along with the golfers, tennis and base ball players and my neighbors, make up quite a friendly community, and a welcoming crowd.

—-Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is president of  the Harris Communications Group, a strategic marketing communications and public relations firm located in Cambridge, MA.