by C. H. Wells
Some years ago a friend of mine – whose mind was host to an astonishing array of fascinating trivia facts – informed me that when Perth’s Stewart Park was deeded to the town in 1947, by Mrs Jessie Stewart (in honour of her late husband, John A.), she did so with a few restrictions. One of these – clearly an important one to her – was that “rude sports” should never be played within its boundaries. And I have to confess that I’m with Mrs S. on this one: A park is no place for ‘rude’ sports.
But before I proceed any further, perhaps a definition of what a park actually is, is here warranted. Lest we fall prey to the assumption that “a park is a park is a park,” here is how a park is defined3 in each of the Oxford and Webster’s dictionaries, respectively:
1COED: 1: a large public garden in a town, used for recreation. 2: a large enclosed area, typically with woodland and pasture, attached to a country house. 3: an area devoted to a specific purpose: [eg,] a wildlife park.
2M-WCD: 1a: an enclosed piece of ground stocked with game and held by royal prescription or grant. 1b: a tract of land that often includes lawns, woodland, and pasture attached to a country house and is used as a game preserve and for recreation. 2a: a piece of ground in or near a city or town kept for ornament and recreation. 2b: an area maintained in its natural state as a public property.
I have to admit that, from childhood, I have never considered any definition other than the lattermost, to actually describe a ‘park.’ That definition – “an area maintained in its natural state as a public property” – with the emphasis on “in its natural state” defines what I have always understood a park to be: a little slice of nature – pristine, and untampered with – ensconced, most often, within an urban space. A reminder, hopefully, of what was here before houses and schools and parking lots. A little bit of wilderness to answer the call in our hearts.
Another trip to the Merriam-Webster’s, this time to look up the verb park, will find, among the definitions: “3a: to set and leave temporarily <parked his book on the chair>” and “3b: to place, settle, or establish especially for a considerable time <kids parked in front of the TV>.” This pretty much describes, for me, what one is meant to do with such a space: It is a place to ‘park’ oneself – temporarily, or “for a considerable time.”
You will note, here, a distinct lack of reference to any desire on my part to lay my picnic blanket down in a pool of recently-deposited dog piddle [Nor to share my picnic with an enthusiastic, unleashed and uninvited member of said species, however charming.]; to listen to the not so dulcet tones of children, screaming at play; to while away an afternoon sitting on a park bench ducking stray balls, frisbees, or badminton birdies. Nor am I interested in listening to anyone else’s idea of music – canned.
If I sound like a bit of a curmudgeon, I’m not: I’m a lot of a curmudgeon. And, horrifying as it may be to those who do like dog piddle, screaming kids, and getting bopped on the head or smacked in the gut by flying athletic projectiles … I’m not alone! [Cue scary music!]
Our current Council is clearly trying to do its job in considering the needs and well-being of the citizens of this municipality. [Now, now! I said trying – as in making an effort, seeking to achieve.] But, apparently, primarily on the advice of a Stantec report, Council seems to have decided that “parks” in Mississippi Mills should be, exclusively, of the “recreational” variety. (COED, def 1; M-WCD, def 2a)
Since I happen to have my dictionaries still sitting right here beside me …
The word ‘recreation’ is derived from a combination of the prefix re- (meaning once more, again, anew); and the verb create (to bring into existence) So, when we indulge in recreation, we are, literally, re-creating ourselves, or making ourselves anew. Ergo, a park is a place where one is meant to renew or refresh oneself.
Now, I don’t know about you, but for me, tossing balls, running and jumping, or doing just about anything else that requires a considerable expenditure of energy, simply does not fulfill my definition of ‘refreshing.’ On the contrary, after indulging in such “vigorous recreations” [The very definition of ‘rude’! ;-)] this writer would be obliged to sit or lie down – for a considerable time – and begin “re-creating” all over again.
Yet our most common definition of ‘recreation’ involves movement, activity, sports. Doing things. But let’s be honest, here – a place with slides or swings or monkey bars, a place where you play ball, or a place where you indulge in any other aggressively-physical activities – that is a playground, or a sports field, or a ‘recreational facility,’ not a public park.
Where is the green space for the sake of a green space, that provides that most sacred of body- refreshing, mind-relaxing, soul-restoring non-activities – a reconnection with nature? Must ‘R&R’ always mean “rest and recreation“? Can it not also mean (as Webster suggests) rest and relaxation, as well?
Where is the place, for those of us devoid of our own, that may substitute for that wooded pastureland (COED, def 2; M-WCD, def 1b) intended, by rights, to be attached to our very own ‘country house’? A country house that, sadly, the vast majority of us today do not possess, let alone do we possess those bucolic rolling lawns, cropped daily by meandering herds of dreamy-eyed ruminants, while we take tea on the lawn.
Where is my green space, Council? Where is the place for me to re-create myself, where I will not get piddled on, bopped, or screamed all about in the process? In short – where is the genuine parkland?
Is there not to be a single parcel of land in this municipality that will not be pressed into service to “do” something for us instead of just lying there, being itself? Must every last naked piece of ‘Gaia’ be subjected to horticultural cosmetic surgery – turned into an artificial landscape designed to make her natural beauty more palatable to our urban tastes – or be twisted, changed and imposed upon, to make her better suit the often selfish whims and doubtful tastes of those evolutionary “enfants terribles” – her human children? Surely in the wake of the destruction of our beloved river “for pride and profit,” there should be an even greater sensitivity to the sanctity of our natural treasures.
Please, Council, leave us some natural space, in which we are not obliged to exercise “for our own good.” Leave us a little piece of Mama Earth, untrammeled by Man’s interventions, where we can be at peace in a wilderness within the wilderness of human civilization.
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1COED: Concise Oxford English Dictionary – Pubs, Oxford University Press
2M-WCD: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary – Pubs, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
3Excluding definitions referring to ball parks, amusement parks, trailer parks, etc.
