I love Memorial Day

What a beautiful Memorial Day this was! The weather was perfect, and it was truly the start of summer. Our own BBQ was not in the park - we are lucky enough to have a beautiful backyard, and on Sunday we had about 40 people over for food and laughs and a general good time. Our BBQ's are multigenerational - our friends and our children's friends. One guy said it was his 15th. He was a teenager, now he's married, a serious grad student, and waxes eloquently on the beauty of urban management. Swan Princess and Knight came (their first time) and I was thrilled to become part of the Swan sisterhood.

The Park is the backyard for so many Brooklynites! It has its own rites and traditions. First someone comes early to get the "spot." There are some favorite and choice spots this year. Usually it's grandpa. There he sits, reading his paper, guarding all the chairs, tables, coolers, cooking equipment, balloons and streamers - all the accouterments of a special family gathering. Sometimes it's the teenage son. If he's alone, he usually looks cranky - not thrilled to be up early to sit in the park. When he's there with his friends, it's a different story - 2-4 guys, hanging out, drinking sodas, laughing and making all kinds of undoubtedly tasteless jokes. Being responsible and having fun.

This year, the BBQ Plaza is really popular. All the tables were reserved. One man nearby man said he's gotten their at 7 AM, but all the spots were already taken. 5 AM next year! By Monday, all the trash cans were full with about a dozen bags around each one. It's a shame the Parks Dept,. can't do a mid-weekend pickup, but a pleasure to see that people do seem to be trying to keep the park clean. All the re3cent publicity - in the News, Post, Times, Brooklyn Paper and Channel 11 seems to have done a good job of raising consciousness of taking care of the park.

Technically, it's still spring, but it really feels like summer has arrived.

While we were away....

The cygnets were born!!!!!! Anne had e-mailed me that they were born on May 21. I actually hoped that she had just seen the newbies on the 21st, and that they were really born on May 20, which happens to be on MY birthday. No such luck. We met Ed and Anne in the park, who said they saw them hatching on the 21st, and that they had parts of their shells on their little heads. Would have loved to seen that!!

Anyway, on Sunday we came back from a week in a little cabin in Taughannock Falls State Park, outside of Ithaca. The area is full of gorges and waterfalls leftover from glaciers. Beautiful weather and hiking, though of course I overdid uit and messed up my knee again. I keep telling myself that these things are temporary, but then I keep overdoing things and messing it up again. Temporary is inaccurate. Perhaps intermittent. Anyway, I only mention this because I am hobbling around again and not really up for our usual 3-4 miles in the Park. BUT I absolutely had to see the baby swans. So we adapted - drove to the park, so I only had to walk a little bit. Worth it! See adorable pictures of cygnets. There are four of them, staying close to mama. One even climbs up on her back.!

As I said, we ran into Anne and Ed, who said there were five of them originally, but one already died from having gotten caught in fishing line, which got wrapped around its neck and killed it. There was a picture in Sunday's Daily News. There was also fishing line around Mama, but some park rangers went out in a boat to rescue her. Good thing, since I'm sure the cygnets would have died without her. Anne says they tried to do it the day before, but not in a boat - waders. they sunk in up to their chests (the park rangers) and so managed to find a boat to use the next day. I'm sorry about the cygnet, but since Mama was saved I regard this as a happy ending. Not all baby animals make it. I still have a vivid memory of attending to our sow's delivery back on the farm. There was quite a long gap after piglet number 5. I was just about to grit my teeth and put my glove and grease covered arm in to help, when suddenly out came 6 and 7. Poor 6 was stillborn, but 7 managed to push 6 out ahead of her. By the way, there were 12 altogether.

By the way, Anne and Ed were with a Daily News reporter and photographer. Maybe with a little more publicity there will be something done about the fishing line. Disposal bins? restrictions? I noticed that there are more efforts to contain the BBQ coal damage to the trees. Bins to dispose of the coals, signs explaining the rules and procedures, and of course "Charcoal kills trees" ribbons. I hope these things work. Is there anything so nice as a BBQ in the Park on a beautiful day? I wouldn't want it to be forbidden.

I did manage to hobble a bit, while Ber took JJ to Peninsula for a nice run. BBQ Plaza was used a lot while we were away - note the bags of trash. This was on Monday. Why weren't they picked up, Parks Dept? You know weekends are busy.

Alas, in spite of our massive cleanup before we left, trash is already returning. When we first came near the swan nesting area, I saw a white blob floating in the water. My heart sort of stopped as I thought the worst - that something had happened to a swan. It turned out to be a white balloon animal floating in the water.

The park is looking so lush and beautiful. Trees are in full leaf, shading the pathways so they look dark and mysterious and peaceful, all at the same time.