Duckweed on the Lullwater

The Lullwater in Prospect Park is teeming with life: a thick coat of duckweed covers the water, the swans have a brood of cygnets, and even the dragonflies are mating. I've also seen a snowy egret and a night heron but haven't been able to snap any decent pics.

Prospect Park Zoo's Fleece Festival

I was volunteering at the Prospect Park Zoo during the annual Fleece Festival. I snapped this picture of my favorite sheep, Wallace, after he was freshly shorn. He was so pink!

It was also the first time I saw the new babydoll sheep. The shorn one is the male.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Though it was overcast, I popped into the BBG today.

Universal Soul Circus

This painting was on the side of one of the trailers for the Universal Soul Circus, which is in Prospect Park now.

Patron Saint of Pestilence

I saw the patron saint for diseased cattle and bachelors when walking down Bergen. 

Saint Rocco was French nobleman turned penniless pilgrim who cured the Plague. He's not only the heavenly go-to for cholera and knee problems but also the patron saint of dogs. Notice the two dogs licking his wounds. 

Graffiti Wars

The first time I walked by the laundromat on the corner of East 17th Street and Courtelyou Road, I noticed that the side of the building had been freshly painted. Over the new coat of paint, someone wrote: 

WHOEVER IS DISRESPECTING 

THIS PROPERTY 

DO NOT LET ME CATCH YOU!

When I came back a week later, that message was covered in graffiti. This back-and-forth went on for a while, but now it looks like the participants have reached a ceasefire. Here are my favorite pictures from the trenches:

It reads: "HUMAN BEINGS DO NOT LIKE 2 see other HUMANS HAPPY." Ouch! 

The reply: "GOD DAMN! RACIAL WORLD WE LIVE IN"

"Thanks! for the Rainbow"

The Bluebell Wood

Every spring, for about two weeks, more than 45,000 bluebells bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Though the annual Hanami (aka the cherry blossom festival) draws the largest crowds, the bluebells are my favorite part of the garden.