Today's goose count: 48 +- 2

Today, we circled the entire lake to count how many geese there actually are. We counted 48, plus or minus 2, since I'm not exactly sure I didn't count a couple of them twice. They are in two groups, one sort of at each end of the big part of the Lake. None in the lullwater or by the Boathouse. And of course, as mentioned previously, none in the Parade Grounds. There are actually more ducks then geese these days. About 40 ducks by the Boathouse, and a similar number in the big lake. Plus, there are the six swans and a blue heron. No sign of cormorants or showy egrets today, but I think they come in from the Gateway area during the daytime to eat, and are in the Park all the time.

The ducks are busily pairing off - numerous couples swimming around the lake, especially the mallards. Well, with the mallards it's a lot easier to tell that they are couples - the males so colorful, the females so brown and speckled. Ah Spring! Lots of other birds, very noisy, chasing each other among the trees, including some red-winged blackbirds, robins, and others. Gosling practicing flight across the lake.

Not so easy to walk around the lake. The whole east end is fenced off for the Lakeside project, with huge dirt mounds inside the fences. We know dog named Puppy, whose owner has a friend who lives on the east side of the Park and is eagerly awaiting the completion of the Lakeside Project. Glad to know some one is, but in the meantime, it's years of ugly, difficult walking conditions. I certainly hope it's worth it, but I am always skeptical of too much stuff being built in the Park. To me, it's always the more nature the better.

More signs of spring: the porta-johns/porta-janes are back, looking fresh and perky. The Snack Bar in the Parade Grounds is open for the season. By the way, the coffee is excellent! Chock-full-of-nuts, always a reliable favorite, and freshly brewed.

Note the interesting little rock monument, and nearby floral offering.

It's My Park!

We had a really great day in the Park yesterday. It was "It's My Park Day," and we were two of the many people who volunteered to clean up the park from 9:30 to 2. Our group collected 54 bags of trash from our part of the lake front (from the Wollman parking lot to the southeast end. We met and were in the same group as Greg Mocker, the Channel 11 guy who's been the squeaky wheel that's gotten more action from the park. He and Karen, our Parks Dept group leader, both wore waders and were impressive walking around in the water. The rest of us had bags, gloves, trash-pickers, lake scoopers, and rakes. A car radiator, a trash can lid, a complete pair of shoes, what looked to be a family size bucket of chicken and biscuits, and bags and bags of blankets and clothes were some of the highlights. The weather was perfect, and the smells were horrendous as they stirred up the muck amongst the phragmites. I could use a camera with smell-o-vision. Ber and I are contemplating getting waders so we can go in the water next year.

I got a souvenir. What looked like an open can buried in the ground was hard to pull out, so I used a toothbrush (found in the phragmites, along with a razor and underwear) to dig it out. It turned out to be a large piece of hand made pottery! You can see the coil marks on the inside.The top was broken but otherwise intact! I wonder how many years it had been buried there.

We also spotted 2 groups of goslings. Nine in one group and 6 on the other. I am no longer worrying about their numbers. They are plentiful and doing fine. They are so funny looking, staying close together and trying to keep up with the adult geese.

Since we were so filthy and smelly after hard work and mud, we stayed in the park and went to our friend Vanessa's BBQ in the Nethermead, where Rigel, Norana and Austin, and JJ were, had set up a spot. Greg Mocker joined us and no one seemed to mind our post-cleanup condition. They had Purell, with which er were generous before touching food. Vanessa is in from California, where she now lives, and served (among other things) "California Dogs." Bacon wrapped around a tofu dog, with guacamole. She said she went to a Dodgers game and asked for sauerkraut on her dog, and they acted like they'd never heard of sauerkraut. My how the dodgers have changed since they left Brooklyn.

We also noticed that all the trees in the BBQ areas have ribbons wrapped around them with the phrase "charcoal kills trees." Hope this helps. I suspect people think charcoal is natural, and therefore good for trees. Not so! And the brand new BBQ Plaza is already being used.

No posts for a week - we are leaving for a week in a cabin near the Finger Lakes. Enjoy your park now that's it's spanking clean.

A New Beginning

After the totally depressing day of too many dead animals, I took a day off, slept late, and gave everything a lot of thought. I cannot let myself obsess on the dead animals in the park. It's too much, what with also worrying about oil spills, terrorists, Tea Party morons, the wrong direction that our education system is going in, aging, the oppression of women in the Middle East and Africa, the corporate takeover of the world, climate change, the tainting of America's food supply with chemicals and genetic modification, etc. etc. etc. I had a nice day at home, getting rid of my lawn and putting in flowering shrubs and ground covers. I have been attempting to grow a decent lawn in our tiny front yard since 1987, without success. So now, we have very nice shrubs, with pine bark mulch covering the ground. I bought all the "part shade" plants that they had at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden plant sale, put it all in yesterday. Whatever takes and thrives, I will add more of them, so that I can finally have a low-maintainence and yet beautiful front yard.

The Park: Today was Saturday, so we went all the way to Grand Army Plaza for the usual supplies of goat and cow cheeses. Met a man walking his finch on the way to the steps up lookout hill. The bird was beautiful - shiny black, with a deep red breast. Reminded me of Hong Kong, where the parks have cords and hooks hanging from the trees. People, mostly old men, take their birds out for walks, in their cages, and hang them up for some fresh air. The cages in Hong Kong are prettier - bamboo, in interesting shapes, with decorated porcelain water and food dishes for the birds. But this finch seemed very happy in its ordinary cage, and so did the owner. He seemed a little disappointed that I wasn't a bird owner, but I explained that I had one as a child, the only pet my parents allowed, and now that I was grown I preferred dogs.

Huffed and puffed up the steps. 5 crack bags, only 1 beer can, and a nice coup0le resting from their huffing and puffing at the top. He did some impressive push-ups, and I showed them my anti-batwing exercise. She understood exactly what I meant, but he clarified it as a triceps exercise. Men don't seem to worry about batwings.

Spotted a huge rabbit, and a film crew photographing it. One man threw sticks to get the rabbit to move for a more lively film, but they didn't hurt it. Also saw lots of birders out with telescopes and cameras. We went by the "lost and found" waterfall. This waterfall was seen only in old (100+ years) pictures, but the ravine had fallen into disrepair,. They found the location by examining the rocks, and it is now reclaimed and beautiful.

The best thing: two live goslings being nurtured by their parents and a whole flock of geese. Truly felt like "It takes a village." Although I do worry a bit about the geese that seem to b e taking over the Lake and driving out the ducks. I think there used to be many more ducks. I really have to stop looking for new things about which to worry.

Too Damn Depressing

It was a beautiful early summer day today, and the walk in the park should have been filled with joy. The growth is lush and rich and green. The tennis courts are outdoors again - they took down the blow-up building that covers them in the winter. Sun shining, dogs running, but there are more dead animals than ever. Something is seriously wrong with the Prospect Park lake, Haven't seen a live gosling yet, but have found 3 dead ones. Another dead turtle - not decapitated or eaten, just dead. Another dead raccoon, a dead possum, and lots of fish. All right next to the lake water. Allegedly, the Parks Dept. tested the water weeks ago, but no results have been released, and I'm sure they won't be. What do you expect. The retiring Parks Commissioner proudly announces that he doesn't like parks, and that he cut the staff by 70%. The retiring Prospect Park head proudly announces that she doesn't really like parks and doesn't go near them., but got lots of private money to build things in the park. How about people who like parks running them? Wouldn't that be novel? But that's not how things go these days. We see "management" as a skill that can be applied everywhere, regardless of any knowledge of the underlying business. Which is why there are fewer and fewer American businesses.

Meanwhile, the scenery looks great from a distance. The turtles have found places far enough from shore so that they can at least sun themselves in peace, and the nesting swans are still there. I fear for their future, and for the future of any cygnets that might hatch. Papa is more protective than ever - he bit my shoe when I got too close to the water.

Oh, as predicted, the big tree trunk has been rolled into the lake. Paddleboats are out to be rented, with danger signs posted at various places where the parks dept. can't be bothered to repair Olmstead's 1890 masterpiece.

I came home and spent time fixing up my own garden. I like public gardens, but don't know what else I can do to insure that they survive.