Live frog, dead turtle, another fire

Thia is actually a combination of yesterday and today. Is there anyone reading this who can enlighten me as to the protocol, if any, about blogging? Can one fudge the truth and attribute one day's actions to another? Or am I being ridiculously old school, caring about truth and accuracy and all those things that seem to have gone out the window lately? Anyway, yesterday we saw all three of the title things. Another group of phragmites, this time on the south side of the lake, was burnt. Could be deliberate or people partying. Don't know, don't care. Looks bad, smells worse. The dead baby turtle was nearby. The frog was on the other side of the pond. We weren't exactly sure if it was dead or alive, so I touched it VERY GENTLY with a stick, and he (she?) jumped about a foot, and startled the heck out of me. So good to see life!! Likwise, all the flowers in the neighborhood are blooming - the first red tulips are out, rhodies everywhere, and all the daffodils! Especially in front of the boarded up, foreclosed house - how poignant - life goes on.

In the park, we did see many live turtles besides the poor dead baby. There were five lined up, single file, on a branch in the water near the Lullwater Bridge. I got so excited! Made noise, scared them off before I could take a picture. I need to work on my "quietly sneaking up" skills.

Very exciting scene: Two park workers doing a great job cleaning up. Truly a start of spring! We chatted with them, told them I was one of those bitchy people who complained about the trash, and was thrilled about what a great job they were doing. I know this probably sounds disgustingly patronizing, but I really was impressed, as they explained the skill involved in doing it right.

Prospect Park Mysteries

No mystery about the fact that it's a gorgeous day, park was surprisingly full for a weekday (course it is a school vacation week) and mostly looking good. Early morning pickup soccer has begun again at the Parade grounds, daffodils are sprouting all over, and a red-winged blackbird was singing joyfully from a treetop. I got pictures, but I need to work on being a better a photographer. I used to use a Pentax - very simple, had to learn to adjust F-stops and focal points. I finally did, and then the world went digital. I now have a digital that apparently do everything, if I could figure out how. It's coming along, but it's a slow process.


First mystery: the candle. We came upon a candle burning in a can with a tin foil chimney. No one around. Kids? Worship? Homeless person's stove? [no - no food inside the tin foil] We blew out the candle - unattended candles amongst leaves and phragmites are very scary. Is this how the 2 phragmite fires started? there was a little pile of yellow wax about 6 inches away, so this wasn't the first time.

Second mystery: the lake and the swans. More about the poor deceased swan. There were articles in the Post and the Brooklyn Paper, and the News may have something soon, but there's more to the story. So, the swan (a female, but known as John Boy by her fans) was very still next to the lake and taken away to a Wildlife Restoration Center in Nassau County. Apparently, the Center was never told 1) where the swan came from, or 2) that there had been about 5 other dead animals in the same location over a 3 day period. So no vet was ever called, the poor thing died, the death attributed to "swan on swan fighting. No necropsy (animal autopsy) was done. Then the lake was partly drained and refilled, so any evidence of some kind of poisoning would be gone. It is all very weird. I can only attribute this to that "Don't panic the public" thinking or a fear of copycats.

It is exactly this kind of behavior that leads to conspiracy theories - the black helicopter people and so on. I have to say that I think there are some conspiracies - No one will ever convince me that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. My problem with conspiracies is that rely on too much intelligence and perfect timing. They work great in movies and TV because everything happens
according to script. Real life doesn't work like that. In "Law and Order" the prints on the cigarette butt by the body invariably belong to the killer. If only that were true in real life.

Real life is much more like Guy Fawkes. In 1605 he tried to blow up the English Parliament. So of course he told his friend not to go to work at Parliament that day. So he was caught, and now every year on Nov. 5 the English celebrate Parliament NOT being blown up with fireworks, bonfires, burning dummies, and other such communal mayhem.

The point being: if people are being lied to, they will assume the worst, and why shouldn't they?????

Enough ranting. Still walking slowly. Took my hiking trekking poles today - don't know if it's better or worse. Nice to have something to lean on, but I tend to walk faster.

Another beautiful spring day!! Crocuses and hyacinths are blooming everywhere, and I saw my first daffodils of the season - so bright and cheery!! Hobbled to and around the park; figured it's best to keep moving, and the epsom salts bath last night helped. Skipped the steps, though. Last week at yoga I could forward fold and put my hands under my feet. Now I can barely reach my knees. Well, enough about my health issues. The second duck egg was broken open, and the yolk still inside. No signs of a third egg. Either mom has quit altogether or found a better hiding place. The turtles have found a better place to congregate, and are keeping out of the burned phragmite stand. Of course, we don't know if these are the same turtles. Ed tells us that he told the head of FIDO and a person at the Sean Casey Animal Shelter about the turtle rescue. The Sean Casey told him that 1) the turtles were hibernating [nonsense in this weather and location], and 2)came and took 3 turtles away for study. Since all the park animals are owned by N.Y. State, it is a crime to take them away - punishable by about a $4,000 fine. I do not believe this fine has been levied in living memory.

It is hard to figure what is happening in Prospect Park. The trash seems to get worse and worse (I am on a hiatus from collecting until the leg is better and I can bend down.) The police presence seems nil, except for the dog runs at 9:00 to make sure all dogs are put back on leash. The dog people, all come with their bags and are scrupulous about picking up after their dogs, so as not to lose the off-leash privilege. Apparently at Brooklyn Bridge Park, a relatively new and small park, is going to get 7 -8 full-time security people. Could it be because it is surrounded by the new multi-million dollar lofts now in the 19th century warehouses? Also, the Parks officials don't give straight answers. The phragmite fire is an example. According to one park ranger and the man in the bodega closest to that bit of the park, it was a huge fire, tons of smoke, and many fire engines came. The official park explanation, according to Ann Wong, was that it was a small fire that went out all by itself. Ignorant or lying?

No steps, ergo no crack bag count todayl

Duck lays eggs, Turtle returns home.

What a gorgeous spring day, second in a row! We spotted a duck egg in the park. Nice and white, with a waxy, slightly opalescent look. Unfortunately, someone had moved it to a sheltered area, so I don't know if mama will sit on it. I explained what we learned in Troutville, 25 years ago, when we had a farm and raised ducks, chickens, goats, etc. A duck will lay an egg every day or so for several weeks. Then, Mama will sit on them for 21 days (if I remember the number correctly) and hatch them. If they're handled, she might not come back. However, obviously the duck egg laying season has started, and I'm sure there are more clutches better hidden around the lake. The other really neat thing was a large box turtle returned to home in the burnt phragmites. I guess the burnt smell, which has been keeping animals away from that spot, has dissipated. The top 3 pictures are the burnt stand of phragmites.

What I love about Prospect Park, is that it is really a park for everyone. Some people love the wildernessy aspect. When Ber and I want wilderness we go upstate to Adirondack Park, officially "forever wild," and backpack and camp for a few days or a week. We have gone days without seeing a soul. Love it,k but don't need it here. Here in Brooklyn it's just a taste of nature for city folk. For all the city folk. A little respite from city pressures. Bird watchers, fisherpeople, children, ball players, dog owners, barbecuers, and even the crackheads. The trick is that everyone needs to be able to share the space. I fear that if there's too much of one activity, like strewing trash, smoking crack, making things very quiet and meditative, or even fishing, there will be a tipping and the park will only be for some. The Parks department makes some decisions that are hard to understand - like concreting large areas, to keep bbqers in certain areas, but not bothering to keep other areas clean.

A Park workers tells us that there were 45 trees down in the storm. They have started to clear away a few, but of course the downed trees on roads are much more hazardous and must be cleared first. All the swans were out in the middle of the lake today. Three of them flew in formation from one side to the other. I tried to catch it on film, but they never seem to fly like that unless my camera is turned off, and I can't get it on fast enough. I'm not giving up!! There's one of them looking for a nibble.

1 crack bag today, 1 yesterday.

Second hand notes

Miserable, rainy, windy - I slept till 10 and never went to the park. Ber and JJ are indomitable, however, and did go. Well, Ber is indomitable. He tells me that JJ objected until they got to the park, when she decided it was fun after all. This is Saturday, after all - the day of the big Farmers Market at Grand Army Plaza, the day we like to get special treats, like the organic, homegrown bacon from the Flying Pigs Farm people, and the herbed goat cheeses. Ber also brought home what was probably the world's most expensive liverwurst - absolutely delicious, but destined to be a rare treat. Long Meadow was filled with puddles, and the dogs were having a grand time jumping in them. This picture, by the way, is from a sunnier day - looking up the steps up Lookout Hill.

Big news: a stand of phragmites have been burned. Phragmites are very tall grasses that grow in clumps at various points at the edge of the lake. They grow thick, almost like small forests, and are quite beautiful, but invasive (meaning not native - invasive does not refer to their intentions) and give a lot of privacy once you're in the middle. The park mavens are abuzz with speculation - pyromaniac? plot to destroy the park? what? This particular stand had a path going into it - I went in about a month ago to check it out, and came out with two large bags of trash. This was before I decided to become a Bag-Of-Trash-a-day lady, but luckily, since we have a dog, we always have pocketfuls of plastic bags. Anyway, there were many beer cans, a few condoms (I wore gloves), empty DVD boxes that used to contain porn (cover pictures - very graphic), and some fabric stuff that suggested someone might have slept there at one time. My suspicion is someone was trying to keep warm, careless crack user, "concerned" citizen trying to get rid of the riff-raff, or local juvenile delinquents having a wild and crazy night. Any serious pyromaniac could have done a lot more damage. It looks disgusting, but I'm not seriously worried at this point. The very same stand burnt 4-5 years ago, and grew back by the middle of summer.

Crack bag count: only 2 + 1 used condom