Loving Lake Merritt like a Local

Looking across Lake Merritt toward downtown Oakland

I almost didn't write this post because, to me, Lake Merritt isn't really a novelty anymore. During over 5 years of living in Oakland, my sister has always lived within walking distance of this rather large tidal lagoon, so other than my first visit (during which I was, in fact, pleasantly surprised to find a lake in the middle of what I imagined in my sheltered, Midwestern yuppie mind was a gangsta's paradise), I have hardly thought it as a particularly touristy thing. Especially since the locals are always hanging out there. And by hanging out, I mean sitting on benches, strolling with friends, lounging on the grass, boating (although not in the winter), bird watching, and exercising. It's an easy 3.1 miles around the lake, beautifully maintained, mostly paved, and so I thought I'd make like a local and have a bit of exercise. In my opinion, 3.1 miles of anything = exercise. I mean, that's 5k of running, biking, swimming, or maybe even cartwheeling. I was, um, walking. But sort of vigorously...

Anyway, it is the best place to people-watch without looking like a tourist. Just keep walking.

At night, the lake path is beautifully lit by streetlamps and strings of warm , energy-efficient light bulbs.

At one of the bench areas along the path, an impromptu art installation had been put up. It involved  masking tape, magic marker, and an invitation to share "a line of poetry, a lyric, or a quote." "This tape is CLEVER and so are you," encouraged one strip of said tape. I participated as a bystander and documentor.

Under the arbor at the east end of the lake.

Interestingly shaped tree trunks like these abound on the north side of the lake.

Also on the north side, birds. Lots of birds.
A few bird islands set up to encourage them and also a bird sanctuary/park kind of thing.
And a kid feeding them bread.

Pelican in the midst of smaller water fowl. Apparently this is far enough south for Canadian geese.

Learned from a local that this is night heron. It was about a yard away from me. Pretty cool.

Another night heron. You can kind of see his cool white spiky plume thing in this picture.
Again, he was only about a yard away from me.