Memorial Day 2007

Happy 3day Weekend to you. I've got a funny Memorial Day story. I grew up in CA where Memorial Day was always a 3day weekend. So, when I went to grad school in the south I'm thinking that the last weekend in May is a good excuse for a trip to the beach or some sort of road trip. But, nooooooo. As it happens Memorial Day was originally established for Union war dead and wasn't a 'national' holiday until after WW I. This was something that was left out of the CA text books. Strangely, I guess down south they held a bit of a grudge. I think by now it's a holiday everywhere, but man that was strange.

I'm ambivalent about Memorial Day as a holiday. Those who fought and died for our country should be honored. But listening to politicians get up on their high horse today call on more people to run Bush's fool's errand in Iraq make me sick.

My nephew is sleeping over this weekend, so that means non-stop stuff. Yesterday we went to see Shrek III. We all thought it was kind of so-so. Apparently Disney's copyright of Snow White must have expired as Katzenberg really used her to stick it to his former employer.

Then we went to the Griffith Park Observatory. For those of you who haven't been to LA, Griffith Park is a really well kept secret. It's the largest urban park in the US (yes, bigger than Central Park in NYC) and has spectacular views of LA. The Observatory is close to Cal Tech and the Jet Propulsion Lab, so the programs and exhibits are great. When I was a kid we used to go there on school field trips. As I got into high school and college it was a great date place, as well as a fun trip to get stoned and go to laser rock shows. The Observatory was recently re-opened after a 4-year renovation and it looks spectacular. They kept the iconic architecture (you've seen it in a bunch of movies) but really improved and refurbished the facilities.

Griffith Park itself has been in the news, well here at least, since it had a large fire a few weeks ago. There are rarely big fires in the park, so it bodes poorly for our fire season this year.
There's a lot of discussion as to what to do with the burn areas. I think the park people will probably get their way in letting most of the areas grow back naturally. As the National Park Service has learned, fires are a natural occurrence and they, and the aftermath, shouldn't be managed much. In fact, a benefit of the fires was that a lot of non-native plants were taken out.

However, to some the park represents a great opportunity for community gardens, something that a sprawling city like LA needs. There are those who want to ensure those remain, or even expand. I can see maintaining some of these and some very user friendly areas of the park which are close to the communities that border the park. Except for that, I say let the park grow back wild and restore itself to its natural state and beauty.