Regarding the wild geese of Echo Park...

 One of the things I miss most about the East Coast are the Canadian Geese. It was a tradition every fall to wait for the geese flights on their way somewhere south, pack after pack in classic V formation, proving that winter was almost here. For some reason, it was always at night, and my father would call us outside, freezing in our jammies, to watch the V silhouettes in the moonlight and hear the faint calls from overhead.

I was just back there a month ago and I made my brother stop the car every time we saw a gaggle of geese in the meadow! Damn, that I hadn't brought my binoculars! They aren't considered rats back there, but a sign of health in the environment and beauty. Often there were horses or cattle close by the resting troops, too, and I think they each offered safety to the other.

So when I started to hear what sounded like Canada Geese a year or so ago, flying near my Silver Lake apartment, I wondered if I had forgotten what they sounded like, and was making it up in my head. Was I confusing them with seagulls, who like to soar over the LA River below? I never saw them.

Then 2 days ago, I was running in Griffith Park and I finally saw two geese, flying low, honking, just a few feet over my head! So maybe they're in Echo Park, but they are definitely around here somewhere. I'm back east right here in LA!

Donna Barstow