Pond Scum
July 7, 2011
This was shot at the creek yesterday. Don’t know a lot about algae growth, but I think the heat and maybe some other factors generally contribute to the growth of massive amounts of the stuff.
And here come these guys in a slow moving boat, wearing broad brimmed hats, skimming slimy green gunk off the surface of the water as they navigate carefully upstream.
Pond scum skimmers. Great summer job, guys!
And wouldn’t you know, as we were walking along the creek yesterday, talking as we do, we came upon these pond scum skimmin’ guys at the precise moment we were talking about the Strauss-Kahn case. Pond scum was the perfect thing to encounter at that very moment.. so apt a characterization.
Life imitates life.
Anyway.
Turns out pond scum skimming is a pretty effective technique for cleaning the surface of Putah Creek. Here’s a shot of the same spot today, same time of day… no scum at all.
The technique–skim scum, dump it on the side, skim scum, dump it on the side–doesn’t seem to work as well on the Strauss-Kahns of the world.
Life of Wry 