To some people it may just be a hilltop or a park, maybe even just a place by the river to fish but to me this was my favorite place. Sewards park was across the street from my Childhood home, literally, the swing set was directly in front ot my tront yard. Grassy hills, a pathway tor cars to go down by the river and a nice park on top of one of the hills. Beautiful waterfront lay a the bottom of the pathway for vehicles and some benches here and there to sit and enjoy your time and view. This was my place, this was my childhood, our whole neighborhood spent out childhood here. Playing at the park, fishing, feeding the duckS or just playing on the his whatever game we had all decided to play that day.
The park was a swing set, slhde, teeter-totter and these rocking animal nde-on toys. 1he next hill was used mostly for sledding or rolling down, we had to be careful at the bottom, though, there was a wire to stop you from going onto the roadway and straight into the river, although sometimes we thought the wire was more dangerous. On the other side another hill top was flat on top, had some trees and a bench, that is where we would play football, baseball or some of the guys in the neighborhood would hit golf balls into the river, my favorite was Frisbee with my brothers. The smell of the river, the sound of the waves and lots of ducks quacking, the Occasional fish jump, making a familiar splash in the water. This was my happy place, still is to this day. When you are swinging on the swing set and get high enough you can see over the hill top it sits back on and it looks as if you’re going to swing right into the Rock River. The slide sat right next to the swings so it was just set back enough that on the playground you were surrounded by hill-top without worries of tumbling down the hill.
The teeter-totter was a little closer to the edge but when I was a kid there was a guard rail, like the ones on the side of the road over a small bridge, that was on the edge of the hill and right behind the teeter-totter so no worries. That is no longer there today, though most have not changed these days with the park except some new benches and the animal ride-on toys, there is only one lett standing. Growing up there was three there. The path to the bottom was just a small road that wound down the hill and to the riverfront. There were a hill and a roadway, and the river that is it. Lots of river rock lead you from the man-made road into the river. As a child, I would love when it would rain a lot and the river would rise up onto the road at the bottom of the hill, all of us kids would go down there and play in the river on the road. You could sit on the benches at the bottom of the hill and even fish when it rose enough. Hearing those waves on a windy night to fall asleep to0 was great, even the huge train horns that echoed across the river were something you just learned to love. The worst part of all hat grass and water were the bugs if you did not wear bug spray you got attacked by mosquitos like you were a big Juicy steak to a tiger.
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Lots of mice in the area and those obnoxious seagulls, all of us kids would feed the ducks and throw rocks at the seagulls, yes T know it was mean but we were only kids and they would swoop down at you on purpose to scare us or tO go to the bathroom on you, we did not like them. Everyone loved being there, we would fish or feed ducks or find something to play on those hills, we loved manhunt at night and capture the flag during the day especially. Using the hills to hide us and to divide our teams, the “base” was always the big sign on the top of the big flat-topped hill that read “Sewards Park This place was not just a park, it is a part of our childhoods, it is a part of our homes. will never forget the way it smells, especially after a fresh mowing. The way the wind makes the waves clap and boom together, something about that just soothes me. Whenever I am anxious or upset, I can still go to this place and sit by the water and just feel a calm come over me. This is one of those forever beautiful and natural places, you can see the walking bridge just to0 the right and thel’ avenue bridge t0 your left, Sterling is right in front of you, across the river. Whether you are needing some nature in your life, some calm, a good fishing spot or a nice place to take your kids to play, this would be the place to be for me.
The way the water gleams at sunset and sparks the day with the sunrise is stunning. The way the river smells of fish, for some reason, makes me happy and makes me smile. The way the grass is always a pretty green during the Summer and the leaves from all the trees cover the place in Fall, snow on the hills meant sledding and forts for snowball wars. This is what a childhood should be about, not all the technology and inside stuff, but spending your days making memories outside in your neighborhood and your local park, by the river learning something new. That is what I love about this place it offers all of that for someone in one area. Summer time you can see the Eagles nesting in the trees by the swing set and hunting for their food on the river. Sewards Park represents, home and family and happiness to me, it will forever be my favorite place with all his beautiful character and sentiment to my childhood spent there.
