Photo by Martin Cox, April 2007

The Martin Cox photo, above, was taken -- and sent to me -- in April in the midst of the extreme winds that blew over fences (i.e., one of mine), ripped away tree limbs and blew all kinds of leaves and detritus into Echo Park Lake, including this life ring, of which the above turtle is making such poetic use. This turtle, like the many hundreds of others in Echo Park Lake, will be facing the fates when the lake is drained for cleaning in a year or two. No more sunning on the banks of turtle island, at least for a while.

A staffer at the LA Times fretted about it in today's paper. The question they asked is: where will the turles go?

Not to mention the egrets (which have a nest this year at the park), the wild and domestic ducks. ... Not all of these creatures are cut out for the wild rushing of the LA River, even if they knew how to find it or got a ride.