Quiet as it's Kept (Where in Oakland? #1)

No doubt, Oakland is a gritty, post-industrial city.  And it has a reasonably justified reputation (hopefully waning) for crime (hopefully waning).  Still, is it preposterous to say, "Oakland is a beautiful city"?  If we are comparing it to cities around the world, or even in the U.S. – darn, even the Bay – it is hard to keep a straight face and claim that Oakland is, by physical appearance, the fairest of them all.  

But why should we adopt a zero-sum, deficit oriented view of beauty?  We know we shouldn't.  Not for people.  Not for cities.  Because they are, after all, much more than what meets the eye.  The fact is that Oakland is many things, many of which make it deserving of Ishmael Reed's nomination, "Blues City."    Oakland's soul is beautiful, the book implies, and I second that.  Still, someone's also got to make the claim that,  you know what, quiet as kept, Oakland's a cutie pie.* 

This post inaugurates a periodical feature, "Where in Oakland?" to show Oakland's physical beauty, often in unlikely and certainly less well known places.  An image of a hidden gem in Oakland will be posted, meant to invite inquiry and exploration.  A week later, the identity and background info of the gem will be posted. 

Today: in the heart of Oakland, a pond and park that is not Lake Merritt.

Where in Oakland is this scene?

*You know, like when you were in high school and you pointed out to your homies that girl who you thought you just might have a chance with.  With a deliberately dispassionate but knowing tone you might have said, "Quiet as it's kept, A--- is a cutie."  The best response your homie could have was "Truuuue."  Oh, to be the discoverer of something kept unduly quiet!  Like discovering Saturn on your own.**

**Blame my legal education and Bill Simmons for the use of footnotes.