Photo by Martin Cox (c), 2008

Chicken Corner's inestimable waterfowl and lotus correspondent, Martin Cox -- just married and back from his honeymoon in New York (congratulations, Martin!) -- had the bittersweet experience last week of visiting a lotus blossom at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The Brooklyn lotus he saw was the last remaining flower of the season. Which is a lot nicer than what we all saw last year in Echo Park -- the last remaining flowers period. Even the four that were planted in the midst of the die-off, which took two years, didn't take. Seems the only thing that grows these days in EP Lake waters is chicken wire. And some of the ducks are sick. A very rapid decline.

Photo: Echo Park Lake, 2008