Horseshoe Pond

Once, Horseshoe Pond belonged to a man who built a fine home on its shores. Now, decades later, it belongs to me. Oh, and you, too. It belongs to everyone, now that it is a part of the Cuyahoga National Park.
What a glorious setting: sitting high above the valley, above the quarries where the canal stones were hewn, nearly two centuries ago. Surrounded by trees, but with a few large, grassy areas carved out it is perfect for hiking, picnics, bird-​watching, fishing. Barred owls sit in the pines, small-​mouth bass and bluegill rise to a #18 Parachute Adams and a hiking trail connects you with the rest of the park.
I can stand at the south-​east edge, casting into the algae-​covered waters, and imagine I am high in the Rockies, or perhaps at a private preserve in Scotland. Yet another fine and free benefit afforded by this, our great democracy.