Never Gave it a Thought

Even as a kid I never gave drinking lake water a thought. Water from a mountain stream was another thing. We all drank that but never lake water. Everyone knew that not only fish crapped in lake water but so did a lot of people that we knew.

Lakes today are filled with other things. Take vegetation. What used to be a body of water where you could see the bottom today all there is to see is cloudy water or water that has lots of plants growing on the bottom.

When we motor on Whiskeytown Lake I sometimes feel like I'm mowing the lawn. The prop on the outboard has lots of under water plants wrapped around it. I always thought the fish would take care of bottom dwelling vegetation. Maybe they're into eating steak and leaving the veggies for something else.

The park rangers are all uptight about fresh water mussels infiltrating the lake. I'm supposed to display a sign on the dash that states I've inspected the bottom of the boat before launch to make sure there are no mussels attached to it. Next thing you know the rangers will want everyone to check their own bottoms to make certain there's no creatures attached to it. Now there's a thought.

I just read that a snail has been introduced into California bays and inlets and originated in Asia. It bores into the shell of live oysters, sucks out the inside and goes its merry way. This is not good especially for those of us who love oysters on the half shell.

As for people we've got to be on the lookout for Swine Flu. They say it's going to be a terrible outbreak in the coming year and with it will come more than a few deaths.

When you sit back and think about global warming (you do believe in global warming, don't you?), the oysters, the fresh water mussels, swine flu . . . the list could go on and on. Do you think someone or something or a higher power is trying to tell us something?

And to think it all started with fish and kids crapping in lake water.