Lake of Blue Herons

Lake of Blue Herons is a memory of a heron’s nest I used to watch in a stand of trees above Lake Vasona Park in Los Gatos. The park is at the southern end of Silicon Valley, really the Santa Clara Valley, once called Valley of Heavenly Delights for its blossoming orchards.

Lake of Blue Herons

Up from the shore of Lake Vasona

A stately Eucalytus tree,

Illegal alien sprung from seed

Stowed away in some long-ago cargo,

Provides a high perch for nesting blue herons

I love to walk the shores of the lake in spring

With the herons are in residence

And listen as their raucous cries fill the air

By their sylvan high rise

If I look closely at the rim of the nest

I can see the chicks

Lift their heads, calling for a meal

While their parents hunt in

The shallows of the lake

A valley filled with more than a million souls

Spreads just below Vasona,

Yet the herons nest here every year

A gift of nature for anyone to enjoy