Photo: Martin Cox (c), May 29, 2008

The neighborhood, as well as lots of folks outside of it, are getting ready for July's 31st annual Lotus Festival at Echo Park Lake -- presumably in honor of the famous, dense lotus bed in the northwest corner of the lake. The festival machinery is in place. Everyone has it marked on their calendars. Except for the lotus. It looks like they're not coming -- to this or any other event in which they used to feature, such as weddings, lovers' portraits, a stroll. This year they did not sprout. Where there used to be the giant satellite-dish leaves and gorgeous pink blooms, there's the surface of the water. There are many theories (more on that next week), but no one knows for sure what is wrong. Conspiracy theories even come to my mind. And who knows? Were they priced out of the neighborhood?

Did I say the lotus didn't grow back this year? Let me correct the statement. One of them has made a late, if sickly, start, while several thousand didn't get that far. On Thursday, Martin Cox took a picture of the leaf. Above.