Meadowbrook Pond

Dear Diary,

Meadowbrook Pond Nature Refuge is a Seattle Public Utilities site largely open to the public.

It's near the confluence of the north and south branches of Thornton Creek, and the first thing one does, on entering the place from 35th Ave as I did, is cross a bridge over Thornton Creek (probably the combined stream, maybe just the north fork).

The palimpsestic appearance of the informational sign led me to interpret everything I saw as ruins:

but actually this is far from an immemorial site.  There may well have been ponds near the confluence over time, but untamed hydrological features are unpredictable.  The current pond was built where a waste treatment plant used to stand, according to a useful historical discussion.  It is, in fact, a sort of treatment project itself.  Its purpose - the reason people's utility payments were used to build it - is to decrease sediment in Thornton Creek, and to put something of a brake on stormwater.  It opened to the public in 1998, and occasionally closes again for sediment removal.

Because I hadn't found a map, I explored pretty thoroughly - I didn't expect a water fountain, let alone a restroom, but had to check.  I took pictures as I went:

Then I found the maps:

So after that I took more pictures:

mostly in one burst, from a viewing platform built into the site's main, east-west, bridge:

and then a bit later, of the biggest tree on the island seen on the left of the second photo:

and finally left.

It's north of many blocks of difficult sidewalks, and very far from the area I consider home.  There's a reason I haven't showered at Meadowbrook Community Center.  But it's a very enjoyable place, and a much stronger motivation to cross those sidewalks than any other I've found.