Gray and rainy today - the park seemed quite empty. No one but us feeding the water fowl, only half a dozen or so dogs in the Nethermead, even the lake seemed empty. I'm already missing ice and snow a little bit. When the lake was mostly frozen, all the water birds congregated in the open water. Always a crowd. The middle picture stems from those days. Now they are scattered. One swan lives near the boathouse (see above photo on the right.) Others are in the island and river-like areas in the park. It's hard to believe that the entire park is man-made. The lake, the waterfalls, the creeks - all seem very natural and a great place for wild life to hide from us people. Very peaceful and serene, albeit damp today. Here in the Outer Boroughs, we don't feel like we're in the big, busy, chaotic, stress-inducing city, but it is still essential to feel like you can get away from the cars, loony drivers, rude people, lively children, stressed out friends that prevail, even here in the People's Republic of Brooklyn.
We did see that spring is coming - workers were out cutting and trimming branches that died over the winter - NOT trees, just branches. There was a cleanup crew clearing the paths of dead leaves, although they never seem to attack the trash. They're even repairing the park benches! I did see a unicyclist walking (cycling?) his dog, but he went too fast for me to get a picture. This is the last week that the ice skating rink is open, and three hardy souls were out in the rain this morning - doing some nice leaps and spins. Cayuga and Big Mallard and their Caramel duck entourage (better term than harem, I think) were in the southeast cove, arguing with geese about territorial issues. They seemed to reach a detente.

crack bag count: only 4. Maybe it's the weather? Maybe they're not so fiendish, and can stop when the weather is bad - bodes well for more community centers stopping people from using. Or maybe they're in stairwells, or mom lets them party at home to stay dry. Above: still life of crack bags and cigar wrapper, with shoe for size comparison. Note the bags come in clear and blue - blue much easier to spot.