Phalen: Urban tapestry and oasis

The bike came to an abrupt stop. There, on the pavement, was a turtle the size of a dinner plate.

"It's going the wrong way," the biker said. The turtle was, indeed, inching toward a busy street. The man found a stout stick and gently redirected the turtle back toward the lake. It plodded to the water. The man resumed his ride.

The crush of urban life sometimes bumps up against nature at Lake Phalen, enveloped over time by St. Paul's blue-collar East Side. In many ways, Phalen is where old St. Paul and new St. Paul meet, where the bustling city gives way to a green, watery oasis. Swimmers flock to the sandy beach, and the playground pulses with wriggling kids and babies in bucket swings. Families picnic at rustic wooden tables in the shadow of a giant pavilion. But wander down the walking path encircling the lake and surprisingly tranquil stretches await beneath a canopy of gnarled oaks.

Lake Phalen is popular with fishermen and boaters, but of the quiet, old-school variety. Canoes, kayaks and sailboats slice through the water, while motors are restricted to electric trolling models. Anglers cluster at the pier and dot the shore, casting for panfish and filling plastic buckets with sunnies and crappies.

Next weekend, that gentle scene from St. Paul's past gives way to more recent traditions: a two-day Dragon Festival, a free and popular Pan-Asian expo of food, crafts, music, dancers, martial arts and dragon boat races.

Urban tensions have encroached on the lake in recent years. A few robberies and attacks a couple of years ago led to installation of security cameras, monitored by St. Paul police. Now, "hundreds of thousands of people visit with little or no crime," said Kevin Casper, Eastern District patrol commander.

Janice Quick, who "grew up in the lake," is writing a book about it and has steeped herself in its history. The lake was named for an early settler believed to have committed the city's first recorded murder. Later, it became the first source of city water.