The Llama of the Lake

On Sunday, I rented a paddle boat to venture out in Meadow Lake at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. I espied in the distance a creature sticking out of the water and paddled toward it to get a closer view.  As it came into focus, it became clear that it was an inflated llama. 

What is not clear is why it was placed in this body of water where swimming is prohibited and why there is a canister put in in its center. If any of you should know the answer, I'd love to hear it.

Should you be in the Flushing area of Queens, you can visit Meadow Lake in person, though the llama may not be visible from the shore. Measuring 95 acres, Meadow Lake's claim to fame is the distinction of being "the largest fishable freshwater body in New York City," as per New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The aquatic life that confer the fishable status on the lake  include: Alewife, American eel, bluegill, brown bullhead, common carp, goldfish, gizzard shad, silverside, largemouth bass, mummichog, Northern snakehead, pumpkinseed, white mullet and white perch  The DEC mentions all of the above, though it fails to mention inflatable plastic llamas.

I do have to give a shout-out to Wheel Fun Rentals, which supplied our boat for $30 plus tax per hour. We did get there before noon when the park was nearly empty and the lake completely so, so were able to use the coupon you can find  on the link. However, it takes great stamina to keep going for more than 90 minutes and we did not use up the full second hour you get free with the coupon. 

The shout-out is for calling me to let me know I forgot to pick up my license that is held while you take the boat. As there is no official procedure for the return, I forgot about it. But I did get it back after they called me to let me know.

If exertion is not your thing, you can choose to do what this visitor did and bring your own swing seat to attach to a shady tree to give yourself the best seat outside the house.

Related post:

Going for the brass ring

 

On Valor and Virtue

                                                                                              

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• Public DomainFile:Sugihara b.jpg  Created: before 1945 date

 

If you're not familiar with Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese  diplomat posted in Lithuania during World War II who saved 6,000 lives by issuing visas to Jews, you can learn about him and find references to look up here: ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/chiune-sugihara.

For the sake of this post, I'd just like to quote what he said about his own heroism in reply to the question the author of Pepper, Silk & Ivory: Amazing Stories about Jews and the Far East (p. 189) asked about it:
"Everyone in life as an opportunity to do a good deed. Do it and leave it alone. Don't write about it or publicize it; don't make money from it. Just do what's right because it's right."


The book also recounts that he had no way of knowing at the time if the visas would accomplish his aim of saving lives. Sugihara's son Hiroki reported that when his father found out how successful his rescue efforts proved, he said, "This is the happiest day of my life."