In celebration of Earth Day, here is a (slight) panorama of one of the islands that make up the bird sanctuary at Lake Merritt. I've become enamored with this tool on the iPhone, so bear with me if you see a bunch of pictures like this.
Lake Merritt holds the distinction of being the first wildlife refuge in the United States. It came about mostly because the lake is situated in the middle of the city and The Powers That Be at the time decided that it wasn't a good idea to have people firing guns in the proximity of homes. Ironic when you think about how Oakland is now, but there you go.
The environment has taken a back seat in light of all of the other crap we've been dealing with; on this Earth Day, my hope is that the focus can get back to energy and climate change soon - before it's too late.