Another Day In Salsbury Park

I just love little Salsbury Park. It is on my way to and from everywhere and I often sit on the benches, especially on fine days like today.  I have written before about eagles, squirrels, and slackliners in the Park. Today, my joy was with little kids.

As anyone who knows the Park is aware, the eastern end has a very steep slope — grassy in summer, perfect for sleds on a snowy day.  There were two young lads, perhaps two or three years old, trying to scale the hill.  One of them found it no problem; he ran to the top and raced down again.  However, his pal just couldn’t get the hang of walking up the slope: he would run a few steps and then fall back on his backside, over and over again.  Also because of the slope, he was having trouble getting himself standing upright again after each fall.  His little friend came over — over and over again — and gave him a hand up.

I spoke with one of their fathers who told me it was the little one’s first ever hill.

Finally, after much endeavour, both boys stood proudly at the top of the slope, laughing and enjoying their joint success.  It was wonderful to watch such an important triumph.

Image: Coming In

Killing Mosquitos With Advertizing

A huge amount of commercial advertising is bad for you, sucking the life out of your brain and your wallet by inducing unnecessary consumerism. However, that cannot be said for a wonderfully innovative design being tried in Brazil where the mosquito-borne Zika virus is flourishing.

A company has developed a billboard that mimics the smell of humans and attracts mosquitos from more than a mile away. They are trapped in the billboard and are killed.  Not only is this a remarkable use of design and engineering, it has been released under Creative Commons, allowing any city to use it.

Bravo to everyone involved, and thanks to Creative Review for passing on this information.