[Magdalen] Plain Speech.--cat-tails

[Sibyl Smirl]

Ah!  That's a relief!  Must have been a temporary internet glitch.  I 
REALLY didn't want to go through the hassle with the toothsome fish again!

On 5/30/15 10:09 PM, Sibyl Smirl wrote:
> Cat-tails are very valuable plants, for quite a number of reasons.  I
> "have" some that I value as individuals, in a small "creek" (I think it
> was once one, by the lay of the land) that became a drainage ditch for
> the railroad embankment.  The railroad, which was a spur line for a town
> depot and the grain elevator, is gone now.  They took up the rails a few
> years ago: I would assume that the rails were sold as recycling for
> steel, though I don't know--our steel industry is so far gone, maybe
> they were shipped to China or something.  At least the Railroad found it
> worthwhile to take them up and move them out.  I don't think anybody
> will find it worthwhile to destroy the cat-tails for "beautification",
> though: we aren't that fancy.
>
> On 5/30/15 12:26 PM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Being a native Midwesterner (USA), I'm fond of plain speech:  calling  a
>> spade a spade.
>>
>> I thus have a combination of irritation and amusement at my
>> development's
>> habit of referring to what I would call the roadside ditch, a "swale"
>> which
>> they apparently think is fancier than, "ditch".
>>
>> The authorities here are fixated on keeping "the swales" clear and
>> clean,
>> and there was yet another general notice to this effect in the mail
>> yesterday.
>>
>> Actually, my swales were widened and deepened several years ago
>> along with all those on this street, and then lined with stone.  This
>> was
>> not asked for or really needed, but it does look good.
>>
>> In the process of this swale-surgery, the several little stretches of
>> "cat-tails" were also removed.  This is too bad, because I always  loved
>> the cat-tails, even in the winter when all you saw was a golden brown
>> patch of long leaves.
>>
>> You can't fight city hall.
>>
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typha
>
>


-- 
Sibyl Smirl
I will take no bull from your house!  Psalms 50:9a
mailto:polycarpa3 at ckt.net