Normal had a new, sweet flavor this Sunday at Echo Park Lake as neighbors exulted that the only vendor at the park was selling ice cream. Three squad cars remained at the park all day, armed with their new legal tool -- an "enforceable" ordinance (as opposed to the other kind) -- that the police used to chase away unlicensed vendors. "The grass was visible again," according to one account posted on a neighborhood list serv. The park looked like a park! Chicken Corner celebrates the reasonable separation of recreation and commerce in public park spaces. And hopes the vendors regroup in suitable surroundings quickly.

Meanwhile, about a quarter mile away from the Lake, a select mini-market of cool at the boutique Feeding Birds attracted a kimchee taco truck -- Calbi -- which served delectable shrimp tacos on Echo Park Avenue. No grass was trampled, nor picnics disrupted in the serving of this food.

The bitter note for the weekend: reported gunfire on Echo Park Avenue, near Baxter on Saturday night, about 20 shots fired, some say (Chicken Corner slept straight through it). That kind of thing used to be "normal" around here. Not so much recently.

Photos: At the scene of the Taco Truck, Echo Park Avenue, August 8, 2010.