North Coast Nature Festival - North Olmsted, Ohio

This post documents my experience on April 16, 2011.

When I asked Julia if she wanted to go to the North Coast Nature Festival at one of the Cleveland Metroparks, she responded, “That’s the kind of festival I like.”

And I guess I do too. They’re laid back, kid-friendly, and typically with some interesting activities not found at every other festival. There are also some nice outdoor activities and animals to check out.

But on this particular day, the weather was acting Ohio weird. The morning skies were gray and the lower clouds were zipping by like Banshees surfing on icy air currents (I didn’t get my Creative Writing MFA for nothing). The sun did break through after a bit, only to be overcome once more by a dark curtain of rumbling clouds.

Clouds which would pelt us with this…

…freaking painful hail.

Fortunately for us, we were in my car when the hail broke out in Oberlin. We saw a woman race down the sidewalk with her baby carriage, a gentleman shelter his girlfriend with his jacket, and college students unleash their inner masochistic desires and stand on a street corner (as opposed to taking cover from store fronts mere feet away) as they allowed themselves to be violated by frozen rain.

It was exciting, fearful, and breathtaking all at once and we celebrated our survival by grabbing a quick lunch before going to the festival.

When we arrived in North Olmsted, the weather was considerably calmer, but still rather wet and cold. It was because of this that we walked past the food booth outside the nature center…