THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Another View
SOURCE: By KATHLEEN J. OBER
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
What a thrill it was to this Norfolk native to read a recent article concerning the future expectations for our Norfolk park and zoo. The park has been a vital part of my life, and my love and appreciation for it are very real.
At a very early age, I was taken to the park as a wonderful treat. We would leave the streetcar and enter the park at the 35th Street entrance, there to meet and marvel at the entrance fountain surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. In the center was the statue of two small children huddled gleefully under a bronze umbrella catching the drops of water thrown up by the fountain. Placing my patent leather shoes between the wrought-iron rails, I hung there in ecstasy watching the goldfish darting magically in the dark green waters.
Beyond the fountain the path led to a two-story gazebo, where people could sit, watch their children on the swings and slides outside and gossip awhile before the lunch baskets were opened. Occasionally there were visiting bands, releasing the dancing feet of children.
Farther along the path one came upon a fairy-tale palace of shimmering white and glass, where inside grew trees and tropical plants, with blooming flowers amid myriad ferns and a circling pond where more goldfish made fantastic whorls, and children, out of sight of mothers, dipped their fingers in the water and scattered gleaming raindrops on the pavement.
Outside one heard the raucous voice of the peacock and flew to see the wondrous dance of wings with eyes that winked and blinked. Still further along was the pond of quacking ducks and strutting geese, below the hill where Easter eggs were rolled in spring.
As time passed, I walked with giggling girls and flirted with awkward boys, and in the natural sequence of time strolled babies and lifted tiny feet to the awesome heights of the sliding boards until at last, grown up, the children preferred the baseball field and the tennis courts.
Magic moments that encompass the days of infancy, youth and maturity. I remember with sadness the neglect of the rose gardens, left untrimmed - the animal houses neglected and smelly, the animals grown old and forlorn, the swings rusting and the depressed area reflected in the almost abandoned park.
But now that has changed, the park and zoo have been upgraded. Now again children are finding in them the things that minister to delight, happiness and the enlargement of life that speaks in many languages the affirmation that life is good and should be preserved, enhanced and enjoyed. MEMO: Mrs. Ober lives in Norfolk.
by CNB