Someone Please Water The Flowers Planted By Volunteers In Fort Worth

Several Saturdays in a row, as I drive by the trail that leads to Quanah Parker Park, I've seen what I thought were un-chained work gangs working off their crimes on the weekend. I've seen the same type buses with similarly clad inmates picking up litter along the Trinity River.

Today when I went to see if jogging was fun, I chose Quanah Parker Park for my test run, mostly because I was curious to see what the un-chained work gang had been doing.

Well, what I found was really weird. First off, there is the sign you see in the picture. "TRAIL WORK VOLUNTEERS."

Okay, so these weren't criminals working off petty offenses, like driving without a seatbelt, while driving slow. The sign is asking for volunteers, Saturday and Sunday, 9am til 2pm, to help plant flowers.

Why? Why flowers in this location. It's about a mile from Quanah Parker Park. Very few people use this trail. In addition to the flowers, chunks of wood had been placed lining the edges of the paved trail. Beauty bark had been spread around, with more big piles waiting to be spread.

The weirdest part of the weird project was 3 signs stuck in the ground where the now wilting flowers had been planted, saying "PLANTED BY VOLUNTEERS PLEASE WATER."

Who did these supposed volunteers think was going to read the signs and water the plants? I had a water bottle with me. I like to help when I can, when asked politely, and the sign did say "PLEASE." So, I chose one of the dying plants and gave it about 12 ounces of water, saving a couple ounces for myself.

Why did they not plant the flowers at Quanah Parker Park where more people might see them. And where water is available?

It is all very perplexing.

And I didn't like jogging.