Weekend Onesie: The Path of Most Insistence

Weekend Onesie: 

The Path of Most Insistence

I'm going to use today's Weekend Onesie to share a bit about the happenings at the prairie.

Just to the west of the prairie lies Twin Lake. There's a large beach there, typically populated by a young crowd of the granola variety. They enjoy swimming, smoking a little weed, lazing in their hammocks, chatting and, yes... sunning in the buff. 

This has been going on long before I was even aware of the prairie's existence. 

About five years ago, The City of Golden Valley, who shares the park with The City of Minneapolis, decided to sell the opposite side of the lake to a land developer, who immediately plopped down eight, multi-million dollar homes on the lake's shore. Appropriately entitled people soon populated those houses and were none too pleased to learn that they had to share the lake with a bunch of rambunctious college-aged hippies. 

So, a war began. 

The home owners called the 911 and 311 lines of both cities and began making appearances at the Minneapolis Park Board meetings on a regular basis - all to complain about the unruly and, in their opinion, unsightly conglomeration of people partying on the opposite side of the lake. 

Last summer, I stayed away from the prairie (Covid), but in late fall, paid a visit and got an earful about what was going on. There were a number of incidents on the beach. The Minneapolis Police decided to send in drones and capture people's images and then sent officers in to issue tickets, warnings, and actually attempt to arrest some of the revelers. 

This did not go down well. This was the summer of the George Floyd riots and people were not having it. They intimidated the hell out of the two cops taxed with issuing tickets and the cops turned heel and ran.  

Well, this year? Things have escalated. Seems one of the owners of one of the multi-million dollar homes sold his business and has retired. He's now made it his life focus to rid his multi-million dollar view of the partiers across the lake. 

This led to a Minneapolis Park Board meeting where both city's police forces were represented, in addition to the Minneapolis Park Police. All three are responsible for patrolling the park and... quelle surprise... all three were refusing to do so. 

This began talk of *gasp* fencing off the entire park and closing it. 

Well, tongues at the prairie were wagging. All for naught, of course. They are not going to close a park where they just put in a ton of mountain bike trails, removed underbrush, planted over 100 trees, and paved two miles of pedestrian/bike trail to connect it to a larger trail - not to mention all the electrical and plumbing they put in two years ago so they could make artificial snow at the prairie. So, that was nonsense, but people like a good rumor. 

Instead? 

We get visited by drones every day now. When they buzz near me, I just give them the finger until they fly away. Fuck them. I'm not hurting anybody. And their issue shouldn't be with the prairie at all. When there? I rarely see more than a handful of people; all of whom keep to themselves and are quiet as mice. 

We also get visited every two hours by one of the police forces. The Minneapolis Police and Golden Valley Police only visit once a day - in cars (and they have the annoying habit of driving through the prairie, crushing plant life). So, The Park Police are the ones taxed with most of the duty. They have this little golf cart with a blue and red flashing police bar on top. I wave at them when they trolley by and have no issue with them. Except...

Yesterday! 

I was in the woods watching a deer and had left my blanket and back-pack near a tree stump in the middle of the prairie. I heard their little cart come along and stop and I thought, "Hmm. What are they up to?" I was the only one at the prairie. I came out of the woods to find them going through my backpack! I said, "Can I help you with something?" They apologized and retreated and I apologized (although I'm not sure what for). 

I feel for the folks down at the beaches (there's a gay one, too - just to the south of the main one), but, in a way, they get what they deserve. When they start doing their drum circles? They do tend to get out of control. And all the drinking and smoking dope? That just makes for cray cray. 

Recently, there was an incident where a naked woman in a paddle boat got into a screaming match with the retired business owner. He was taking pictures of her. She's a radical with a loud, loud, piercing voice and one of the folks who intimidated the cops last summer - so she wasn't having it. 

That sort of thing?

Well, it's not going to end well, now is it? 

And it's not going to be the multi-million dollar home owners who are going to lose this battle. Those houses generate tax revenue for The City of Golden Valley, while those kids? They are simply a nuisance taking up valuable police resources.

You'd think the kids - I don't know what else to call them (there are a lot of over-40 in that crowd) - would see that and mend their ways, but nope. 

We live in an age when conflict escalation seems to be the chosen path. 

I just hope it doesn't lead to the closing of the path to my beloved prairie. 

--- ---

Happiness and sunshine!

Good times and blue skies.

Kizzes all around.

- uptonking from Wonderland Burlesque

Theme For A Nude Beach - The B52's