A quiet place to rest

Yesterday at work I had a meeting in a nearby building. I decided to be all eco-friendly and stuff and walk over.

As I toodled along, I was surprised to come across this:

I found it…peculiar.

It’s a nice cement bench with detailed Fish and Wildlife stuff about the “creek” that lay there in view of the bench (behind the, uh, chain link fence).

Here’s an unobstructed view of the “creek” from a small bridge.

(yes, the quotes around “creek” are on purpose)

Folks, where I come from, we call that an arroyo.

And we don’t sit by it and watch the weeds grow. We just don’t.

Is this like the LA river, where, to quote Wikipedia: “For most of its length, it flows through a narrow concrete channel?”

Does something that flows through a concrete channel really qualify as a river (or creek)?

I found it strange, on this walk, to find one random bench with a view of…a weed filled arroyo.

Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Photos by Karen Fayeth and her trusty iPhone

About Author

Karen Fayeth

Comments

  • Joe

    Well… I am an LA River Creek Freak… one of those folks working to restore and revitalize the LA River… and I would say it’s definitely still a river whether it’s buried or flows through a concrete channel. It may not be a healthy river… but my opinion is that it’s still a river.

  • Karen Fayeth

    Hey Tom –

    I’m curious, does the LA river flow from a natural source? I was always under the impression that it was man made. Meaning water shoved into basically an aquaduct.

    If it flows from its own source (which by you saying “buried or flows through a concrete channel” makes me think so), then yeah, I agree, it is a river.

    Good learning for me!

    And keeping our water clean, THAT is a worthy undertaking!

    Thanks for your comment!

Comments are closed.