Now playing: Silver Lake Meadow will be split in half!

Or will both sides be happy? Given a choice, I like to err on the negative side.

I just talked with Julian Calvin-Harris at cb’s office yesterday. I haven’t written anything about the slk meadow here until now because a) I didn’t know enough about it, and b) I’m already working on behalf of gp, which is 800 acres as opposed to the 6 acres of slk Meadow.

But, big news. Garcetti is actually in charge of that 6 acres, with only a thin wire fence separating him from his bff, Tom LaBonge, in charge of Ivanhoe; they both got “hundreds of letters,” protesting turning the Meadow into a public park. See, sometimes someone does read your letters! So Garcetti decided to split the child of divorce in two: only half of the park, or 3 acres, would be for roustabouts, as a public open park, and the other 3 acres will be kept as native preserve. For the animals, and nature. As if anything is left there.

The CSSLR has been very vocal about wanting the whole Meadow to become public park land. The SLNC has been against it, as have many homeowners in the neighborhood.

What do I think? Here’s a hint: the volunteer group I work for in gp is called Parks, Rivers and OPEN Space. Meaning, left alone, not tampered with. CSSLR has already picked out their precious park benches and curly-cue “upperclass” gate, LaBonge’s office told me. Give me your dirty and your poor, we’re open for business!

Need more? slk already has a new wide walking path on the west side which is extremely popular, and looks like the boardwalk or the promenade in England. Joggers, walkers, lovers, baby carriages – it’s quite the place to be seen. And it has benches, too! The city has 484 parks and playing fields. gp is the LARGEST urban park in the country, and isn’t a 5 minute walk from slk, but it’s literally a 5 minute drive. Quit yer whining and go play there.

And last but not least, I want to include a comment Heather made here yesterday:

My beloved bird baths are empty. I live a few blocks from the Silverlake Reservoir and since it’s draining and ball filling my backyard birds have basically vanished. I’ve lived in the area since June of 1999 and during the Spring and Summer months I’ve always enjoyed daily visits from Robins, Orioles, Band-Tailed Pigeons, Blue Jays, Mockingbirds, Wild Parakeets, Ravens, Woodpeckers and even the occasional Hawk (Morning Doves and Sparrows have remained). The wonderful horn sounding squawks of ducks and geese flying over my home each morning and dusk have completely ceased. My heart is broken.

And here’s what I wrote last Feb, before the draining:

Near the full moon, very late at night, I heard a Canadian goose in Silver Lake, honking about something important. Then some coyotes chimed in, in a very beautiful song that I wish I could have recorded. Actually, the coyotes near the lake have the best voices I’ve ever heard; perhaps they’ve become inbred, inside the park. Then, not to be outdone, two Great Horned owls almost above my head joined in the noise singing. It was almost funny, but more like awesome.

I don’t know if it’s the construction and destruction of habitat, or no water for months, or both, but I don’t hear a sound anymore at night, not a blessed sound. They’re all gone, as Heather says. Office of Historic Resources, WHERE ARE YOU???