I am blessed to live just a few blocks from Mineral Springs Park in Pekin, Illinois. It is one of the most beautiful parks I've ever seen. No, it is not as big as Golden Gate Park or Knotts Berry Farm in California, but I think it's just as lovely.
I walked to this magnificent park this morning and took a few pictures to share with you. I need to come here more often. I grew up in St. Louis just minutes away from Forrest Park and the Botanical Gardens, and hardly ever took the time to enjoy the beauty within a "stone's throw" from me, to
use a biblical term.
The flowers that grace the park are awesome and BIG! They must use Miracle Grow or something like that because I've never been able to grow enormous flowers like they have at this paradisaic park. Of course, I never put anything on
my flowers to help them grow and I usually forget to water them. Oh, and sometimes I accidentally run over them with the lawnmower if I've had too many beers. Let me venture a guess that the groundskeepers here are "tea-totalers because they do a wonderful job!
This is extremely cool! This fascinating park has a great statue of Senator Everett McKinley Dirkson, one of the greatest politicians of all time, who had the greatest deep gravel voice I've ever heard! I thought he sounded like a grown up "Froggy" from the "Little Rascals." Tragically, William Laughlin, the real "Froggy" was hit by a bus while he was delivering newspapers on his motor scooter in 1948. Why was a big star like "Froggy" delivering newspapers?
These are the words that are on the back of the statue. Can you see why he was considered such a great guy? Did the letters just get bigger? Oh, well, Everett deserves big letters. "There is no force so powerful as an idea whose time has come."
It was not until 1964, that many diverse and powerful forces combined with the personal courage of the U.S. Senate minority leader and senior senator from Illinois, Everett McKinley Dirksen, to pass the most meaningful civil rights legislation in nearly a century: the Civil Rights
Act of 1964.
One of the supreme pleasures of Mineral Springs Park is the abundance of waterfowl. Ducks and geese abound at the lagoon. I especially love the baby ducklings and geeselings! ( I can't spell goslings)
Yes, there is a lot of duck/geese "fazool" on the sidewalk around the lagoon but the park attendants keep it cleaned off pretty good.
By the way, does a duck's quack echo?
The park has a huge playground area for the kiddies, with soft wood chips for them to land in when they fall from the equipment. When I was a kid growing up in the St. Louis housing projects, we had a playground but no wood chips. Just hard concrete to land on. I struck my head dozens of times on that concrete and look at me, I'm phyne! I'm just PHYNE! Tee hee!
I put this photo in to show that it was sunrise at this glorious park.
See that little shining light to the right of the gazeebo and above the trash can? That's the sun.
No! It is NOT a U.F.O.! I think you've been watching the History Channel on Thursdays too much,
where they talk about ancient 
There is absolutely nothing sadder than this. A lost doggy poster on a tree in the park. I hope they get Daisy back. This kind of thing breaks my heart. I guess there has been a rash of dognappings in the area and that is about as low as it gets. Most people view their dogs as family members and having one stolen is like having a child stolen. What a sad world we live in.
O.K. A gorgeous stroll around the lagoon and we are back where we started.
In all seriousness, if you are in the Pekin, Illinois area, come visit this "gem" in the middle of town and bring the kids!
