Case of the Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

May 5, 2000

Dear Editor,

Your (Friday) story about Councilmember Paul Rosenstein's decision not to seek re-election is the type of coverage one would expect of a public official who had died--not of a politician who knows he doesn't have the support to be re-elected.

He says he won't miss the "downside" of serving on the council: "the game playing and small mindedness, the ego and power tripping and the lying."

By attributing these particular behaviors to others, I hope
Rosenstein is not suggesting that he hasn't routinely engaged in each one of them himself. I believe we have here a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.

May 5, 2000

Dear Editor,

NATURE'S SURPRISES

Wednesday mornings is when husband Ed tutors kids in reading at Will Rogers Grammar School, so we don't go for our usual morning walk that day. Last Wednesday the students were having tests, so Ed came home early and, because the weather was so beautiful, we decided to drive to a place near the sea to walk.

We walked past all the usual gulls, pelicans, and cormorants scavenging and just hanging around sunning themselves. Then we saw a beautiful Great Blue Heron, a 'birder's' pride and joy. It's not a common bird and sometimes hard to spot, so we paused a while to watch it. Continuing on, we came to a large open area full of natural growth and wildlife. Because it is so close to the sea this land is worth many millions to developers, and I understand that environmentalists have been at loggerheads with them over this property for many years.

We strolled on, enjoying masses of daisy-like yellow and white wildflowers, the scent of wild sage and birdsongs, when Ed spotted another Great Blue standing sentinel in a patch of wild grasses surrounded by shrubs. Warily, it watched us, standing as still as a dead branch - probably hoping we wouldn't see him.

These birds are good sized; tall and thin, and have blue-grey feathers with long white and dark streaked feathers on their heads, and a long graceful neck. We are not 'birders' but we love to watch them, and all shore birds, and felt priviledged to see two Great Blues on one walk!

As we were returning from the wild area, we heard what sounded like the calls of wild geese being disturbed. Looking around for them, up high in a small grove of trees we spotted six or seven Great Blues; several standing in large twiggy nests! The ruckous was caused by another Great Blue that had landed in their territory and was being noisely chased away by wing flapping parents! We are very grateful to that intruder, because we'd walked right by them before without noticing a thing.

Late last year we saw six Great Blues, accompanied by several white egrets and mallards, as they slowly stalked small fish in the sloughs next to Malibu Lagoon. We felt we'd never see a sight like that again! Ever!

There is a grove of trees at Morro Bay that's famous for being a Great Blue Heron rookery. But, here we have our own smaller version right in our own 'backyard'!

Somehow I hope that the environmentlists will win out over the developers in this case, because so very few wild places like this remain in our greatly developed area, and I want our grandchildren - everyone's grandchildren - to experience such surprises of nature.

Julie Moosbrugger
Santa Monica