Playground Updates, part 1: Current State of the Playground

After all the complaining I've done about the dirt and the feces and the trash and the smokers and the random adults hanging out on the benches and (literally) hanging on the equipment, I still bring my child to the playground. However, it's never a carefree visit and I've become a hovering parent. I mean, I never know what he'll find on the equipment (corncobs are gross enough, but used tissues and bottles of mystery liquid? Ugh.), and he now knows the word for trash in three languages. He's also started saying "Bah Fui" when he sees something that he knows I think is gross. Cute enough, but really sad, too.

In addition to the trashy stuff, here are some other updates to the condition of the playground. These photos were taken on Sunday.




These photos are of two different tiles that represent some of the safety tiles that get hot when it's a bright, sunny, steamy day. Apparently, they too agree that they should be removed and replaced; they are attempting to escape. The problem with this is, of course, that they are very easily tripped over by both little feet and larger feet that chase the little feet. I witnessed an older man trip (but not fall, happily) over the top photo's tile.

Here's an example of a tile that did escape. It left behind the lovely remains of a large moth as well as some mystery chips of either glass or hard plastic. This former tile space is not far from another tile that is loose enough that stepping on it brings up stagnant, dark water from the bowels of whatever is beneath the playground. Mmmmmmm.

Another concern in the playground is the rust. Now, my kid has had his tetanus shots, yet it's concerning on a variety of levels. Take a look at the huge chips of rust that are coming off. I had a wide variety of choice in areas of rust to photograph. I liked this one for the blue/reddish-brown contrast. Pretty, right? This happens to be on the floor level, but there are plenty of rusted areas that come in more regular contact with little hands (and sometimes mouths). Ick.