urbpan | Images of the Fenway in February

The Fens are former salt marsh in the center of what is now Boston. Cut off from the ocean by a dam across the Charles River, protected and landscaped by city fathers and Edward Law Olmsted, it's a quiet swamp park surrounded by museums, universities, busy neighborhoods, and the nation's oldest ball park. The Muddy River winds slowly through it.

Yesterday we walked the dogs a different way. Instead of looping around the Riverway, we followed the Muddy into the Fenway. This is one of the many bridges made of very locally quarried Roxbury puddingstone.

At several points, the river seems to simply stop, continuing for some distance under the streets in culverts.

As we passed Boylston Street we saw some police action: two unmarked cars and three cruisers gathered near the practice space on the corner. A short distance away we encountered this bicycle, which we could tell by the fact that it had no snow on it had recently been abandoned there. We wondered if this was a getaway vehicle.

Near my alma mater, Massachusetts College of Art, there's often incongruous objects in the park. It's hard to saw if this chair is art or just garbage.