You might accuse us of being obsessed with stormwater, but after last Friday night’s downpour and the resulting mess on our roads and waterways, is it any wonder? Amazingly, the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlons were held on Saturday and Sunday and the swim in the Schuylkill went off without a hitch.

We’d venture to say that the river was swimmable only because the buffer provided by the Fairmount Park system kept some of the polluted runoff at bay. The Philadelphia Water Department’s ambitious Green City, Clean Waters program seeks to emulate nature’s slow it down, soak it in methods — most recently with a parking lot which replaces ten thousand feet of pavement with rain gardens to manage stormwater on site.

There’s a ribbon cutting celebration planned for today, so if you’re in the Frankford area, go Check it out at the Eadom Street dedication.

Date; Friday, June 29
Time: 12 noon
Location: 5312-50 Eadom Street, Frankford

If you can’t make it today — or even if you can — there’s another celebration going on next week, this time in the City’s Bella Vista neighborhood, where the Mayor, residents, and other dignitaries (yes, everyone IS special in the City of Brotherly Love) will be dedicating the latest addition to Philly’s amazing constellation of parks.

Date: Thursday, July 5
Time: 10:30 am
Location: 12th & Catherine Streets, Bella Vista