{Live} Koi Fish at Kelley Park
March 5, 2011 in All Posts, Parenting
Jane has an elephant’s memory for promises and usually reminds me, “It’s a promise,” when I ask if she wants to do something. She doesn’t stop reminding me of the promise until it’s completed.
Last week I promised her we would see koi fish on the way home from SFO, but the San Mateo Garden Center was closed when we visited, so I had to make good on that promise this week. Since my family used to visit the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose’s Kelley Park to see the hundreds of wriggling koi fish when I was a kid, I thought that would be a good bet.
Little did I know that the Koi Herpes Virus (KHV) had hit the ponds and all 500 of the koi were dead! Apparently, someone in the community introduced a foreign carp carrying the virus into the ponds and wiped out the entire population. So, poor Jane walked around the Garden calling, “Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy!” to no avail.
We made up for it with a peaceful picnic on a knoll overlooking one of the ponds and lots of duck-watching.
Then, after an hour of running up and down the Garden’s gently rolling slopes, we sat down next to these marvelous tree roots for a break.
Jane found some magnolia pods for us to hammer open for a fun counting game with the orangey-red seeds we banged out.
Verdict: Even without the koi, I’d recommend the Japanese Tea Garden and Kelley Park. It has the cleanest park bathrooms you’ll ever visit and so many open spaces and hills for your little one to run her heart out. It was a challenge to get up and down some of the hills and stadium-like steps with Sam in the stroller, but you can avoid taking those paths altogether if you want a nice smooth stroller ride. And if your toddler needs her animal fix, just visit Happy Hollow Park & Zoo* until the koi return later this year. Now, to find the next Japanese garden to close the koi fish promise out!
*Tip: Visit on a weekday and before the summer season hits to avoid nightmare parking, overly hot weather for the little ones and the crowds.
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Chrissy – who has written 422 posts on The Outlaw Mom® Blog - Creative Living in a Conventional World.
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