What we have been seeing in Elysian Heights and what our ears tell us has been at odds the last couple of days. Yesterday afternoon, the sun was shining. The neighbors were visiting with friends on front laws. I cooked a lasagna while my daughter played in her bathing suit with her friends across the street in their front yard. Next door, musicians took a break from recording a CD they've been working on for weeks. They chatted on the front steps. Up and down these streets, well tended gardens are in bud. With the exception of an uptick in tagging in recent weeks it doesn't look troubled. It all looks great until about 5 when we hear the big noise -- about six or seven gunshots in rapid succession. Then quiet. Then two more shots. Right away a helicopter chops the air. After that, it's all military-style police noise for quite some time. The sirens as Echo Park Avenue is blocked and the ambulance carries away a 38-year-old victim, possibly one of my neighbors. The chopper. Some friends took the back route to our house for dinner. They said a cop gave them the throat-slash sign when they asked what had happened.