The Showers of Blessings

This week for Lens-Artists Challenge #123, Ann-Christine invited us to look at our neighborhood and see what we can find regardless of being trapped in our Covid19 bubbles.

It has been a while since we last walked around Laguna Lake which is within walking distance from our home. The weather in the last several months has been crazy with record breaking heat, stubborn fires, and a sharp drop of temperature with pouring rain. We had no other options exception staying home especially under the restriction of Covid-19.

After the cold spell, the temperature warmed up to 89^oF this afternoon.  The trail around the lake is only ¾ mile. We walked around it twice. The waterfowls normally migrate in the winter but it’s not cold enough yet. They are still around in the afternoon sun. When the Egyptian geese first came to Laguna Lake, they only showed up occasionally. A year ago, they decided to make the lake their home.

The lake was built in the early 1900s as a watering hole for livestock. The lake originally was up to 11 feet deep, by the mid-1990s, had decreased to 5 feet as years of sludge piled up. In September 2004, the renovation started with the funding of $2 million grant from the California Coastal Conservancy, because the muck from the lake drained to the ocean after storms.

In the process of draining the lake, the workers discovered a monster, known to locals as Old Bob, who turned out to be a 100-pound alligator snapping turtle.

When the restoration completed in 2006, the lake was restocked with 1,000 trout, bass, catfish, and bluegill. Anybody with a fishing license can cast a line into the lake, but only the trout are large enough to keep.

Today, Laguna Lake Park is a pleasant park for joggers, hikers, bikers, horse riders, fishing, picnic, parents walking with their kids or baby in the strollers, or owners walking with their pets.

Home owners by the lake built staircases to have easy access to the lake.

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Lens-Artists Challenge #123 – Found in the Neighborhood

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