Talking Waters in Albany

Early in September (before my trip to Annapolis), I had the opportunity to help out some Cherokee friends by hanging out at the hospital and offering friendship and moral support after a surgery. The hospital was near Kellen and Cameron, and I saw that as a way to visit my kids too.

After my friend’s surgery went well (Yay!) and he had recovered enough to let his wife and daughter to get him settled into the car to go home, I had some hours to kill before Kellen got off work. Naturally, I checked to see what trails were nearby. I found Talking Water Gardens connected to Waverly Lake.

I found this information on a site by Hasso Herring: Joe Deardorff, who takes care of Talking Water Gardens for the city: “What I’m seeing is a native floating aquatic plant called Mexican Water Fern (Azolla species). They are green in the shade or can become dark red growing in the sun and are often confused for harmful algae blooms or a red tide. They can make it hard to fish but otherwise are harmless. Ducks and other birds like to eat them, and fish can hide under it. The floating plants can provide some protection from the sun’s warming rays, but perhaps more importantly they prevent a lot of other plants (and algae!) from getting established because they block any sunlight from getting deep enough.”

I discovered a side trail and went to investigate. It turned out to not really be a trail, but an access to the lake from the sidewalk at the street overpass above. Still, it was pretty, and the water was less green.

From Waverly Lake Park, one can cross Salem Avenue and go under the railroad tracks to reach Talking Water Gardens.

I could see on AllTrails that there is an extensive trail network, but since I arrived from the back, I did not yet know at the time I was in a water treatment wetland. On the other side is a parking lot, and information. Grey water from Albany’s homes and businesses goes first to a treatment plant to begin cleaning it up. Then the water is piped into this wetland. “Through a series of waterfalls and weirs, the water is oxygenated, cooled, and naturally treated,” says a sign I found along the way.

Albany is more arid than Portland, and more removed from coastal influences, it feels seasonal change more sharply. Thus, I couldn’t help but be surprised by the Autumn colours around me. Though it was late in the season here, a few flowers continued to bloom.

The memorial to Taniguchi says, “In loving memory. Masao Taniguchi (1925-2011) MSGT US Army (WWII, Korea) and Civil Engineer. He delighted in watching TWG grow from a dream to a reality. Honor nature and celebrate the gift of clean water.” The memorial is built of painted bricks in a heart shape, and filled with many hand-painted rocks, some with messages, and all slightly buried in Autumn leaves, which I think Taniguichi would not mind. I looked all over for an obituary to learn more about the man, but could not find anything, except another blog post from Hasso Herring who also could not find an obituary, and a TWG facebook page, which also did not have information about him.

My only complaint of the trail was not to be avoided. My timing was such that a train was negotiating some kind of operation, possibly rearranging cars, and was beside the park, going forward, then backward, then forward and backward, the entire two hours I was there. It was rather noisy. BUT! I love trains and so I forgave them doing their work while I was trying to play.

I had been out walking for a couple of hours at this point. Yes! It’s a large area! Though I had not been on all the trails, I was getting tired. I made my way back to Waverly Lake, where I had parked my car.

I got ready for dinner, then Kellen suggested a place to meet in the darling and historic section of Albany (near the carousel, that I have blogged about before). They suggested a Scottish Pub/ Whiskey bar, and it turned out to be a great suggestion.

Kellen and I each had whiskey flights and shared each other’s so we were able to taste 6 whiskeys total. We liked Yellowstone Select the best, and vowed to purchase a bottle later. Then we said goodnight and went our separate ways.