I’ve been talking about local parks a lot lately, but I haven’t said much about one of my biggest obsessions: Como Park. A while back I mentioned starting a Flickr group for Como Park (currently 615 photos and 34 members strong!), and there’s my own collection of Flickr photos, the Wikipedia entry I’ve contributed to and numerous visits.

There’s just something about Como Park that captivates me. It’s got a lake and a zoo and a conservatory. But it also has a 100-year-old abandoned pedestrian bridge and a lily pond that’s been dry for decades, but 100 years ago was quite the attraction. It’s also got cool WPA buildings and lots of sculpture and art.

I think the sense of history and mystery is what intrigues me. The park has changed a lot in its 100+ years, and some things have been forgotten over the years. Some of those forgotten things have disappeared, while others are still standing, covered in weeds and waiting to be rediscovered.

I’ve started a Flickr group for Como Park Zoo & Conservatory pictures. So far I’m the only member and we have over 100 photos. Kind of freaky, but I like Como Park and have lots of pictures.

Plus we just went there with the grandparents and that trip alone probably accounts for three-fourths of the pics. I also beefed it up with a few historic photos I found around the net (not sure how kosher that is with Flickr, but oh well).

So I’m kind of obsessed with certain locations. Como Park is one of them. Raymond, Kansas is another. The High Bridge in St. Paul is a recent obsession that’s starting to take root. Sometimes it’s neighborhoods I’ve lived in or just locations that have a history. I especially love digging up the history. Like this pic of the Como Zoo building in 1936 compared to 2006. It gets even more fun when you zoom in on the group map to see photos scattered across the park.

Web 2.0 is only fueling my obsession. It’s everything I can do to keep from filling in Wikipedia entries, forming Flickr groups and writing Squidoo entries (too late for Raymond, Kansas on that last one) on my latest obsessions. I just have visions of lame groups of one and hap-hazzard contributions scattered across the web for all to see (Squidoo already has a nice collection of those). But maybe I should just give in and ride the web 2.0 wave, embrace my geekiness–at least more than I already have.