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It's really not such a far walk... or, I didn't think it was, but Google is telling me it's two miles. Whoops.
At any rate, this meant I cut through Hero Park (where I found the nest) and also that I walked past a cemetery. Or, more accurately, four cemeteries that all seem to abut each other - check out the map here! They're the ones right next to Silver Lake! Some gorgeous land, with great views, on a hill, and it's taken up with graves.
I remember as a kid reading various books where superstitious characters would hold their breath when going past any place that might conceivably have a grave. If you're that superstitious, I suggest you avoid the area entirely, as you'll end up in your own grave if you try holding your breath that long!
Normally, when I go past any of these cemeteries, I'm on the bus or in car service, so I don't take a good look. But I was walking, so I read the gravestones as I passed. I really ought to go in one day and look at them properly, the names are all mixed up just like the city. You have a Polish family next to an Irish family next to some guy from Pakistan in 1907... huh.
It was surprising to me, actually, how many graves there were with Muslim names and/or marked with a star-and-crescent. Well, not how many graves there were, but how old they were, with death dates starting in the late 1880s and moving into the 1900s. I knew there had been Muslims in the US for longer than most people assume, but I guess I hadn't really thought about it before. And look, there's all these old graves!
At any rate, this meant I cut through Hero Park (where I found the nest) and also that I walked past a cemetery. Or, more accurately, four cemeteries that all seem to abut each other - check out the map here! They're the ones right next to Silver Lake! Some gorgeous land, with great views, on a hill, and it's taken up with graves.
I remember as a kid reading various books where superstitious characters would hold their breath when going past any place that might conceivably have a grave. If you're that superstitious, I suggest you avoid the area entirely, as you'll end up in your own grave if you try holding your breath that long!
Normally, when I go past any of these cemeteries, I'm on the bus or in car service, so I don't take a good look. But I was walking, so I read the gravestones as I passed. I really ought to go in one day and look at them properly, the names are all mixed up just like the city. You have a Polish family next to an Irish family next to some guy from Pakistan in 1907... huh.
It was surprising to me, actually, how many graves there were with Muslim names and/or marked with a star-and-crescent. Well, not how many graves there were, but how old they were, with death dates starting in the late 1880s and moving into the 1900s. I knew there had been Muslims in the US for longer than most people assume, but I guess I hadn't really thought about it before. And look, there's all these old graves!
