I thought Canadian thistle was considered noxious. The county thinks it is, but the city must not. Take a look at the purple haze on Chapman Hill. What’s the deal? – Kevin Karle
Is there a new unsanctioned event going on, the Labor Day Thistle Rally?
Has the city shamefully allowed noxious weeds to run roughshod?
Time for some Very Important Investigative Reporting!
Action Line made a beeline for Chapman Hill only to discover Rocky Mountain bee plant.
Talk about a buzz-kill.
Or quite the contrary.
The lively large patch of purplish-pink, nectar-rich flowers was literally humming with thousands of happy bees.
You could almost hear the bees shouting, “Let’s pollinate ‘till we can’t see straight.”
Rocky Mountain bee plant is long-blooming native annual wildflower that readily reseeds along roadsides.
It’s “commonly found along disturbed sites,” according to the U.S. Forest Service plant profile.
Does that means Chapman Hill is deeply disturbing?
For clarification, we disturbed Matt Morrisey with a phone call. Our good friend is the longtime recreation supervisor for Chapman Hill.
A lot is going on – roller skating, roller hockey, birthday parties, pickle ball, Disco Nights and so on, Matt said. But nothing particularly nefarious.
Be that as it may, bee plant first showed up several years ago after Chapman Hill hosted a string of mountain bike races.
A lot of dirt was moved in preparation, creating ideal conditions for the disturbed soil-loving plant.
Matt theorized that seeds hitched a ride to Chapman Hill on tires, bike cleats or race equipment.
The bee plant patch has shrunk over the past three years, Matt said. He’s careful to limit its spread by having city crews mow the hill each fall before seeds ripen.
Mowing generally happens in autumn after dew begins forming in the morning.
So the city’s do-bees will do bee-plant doings in dew time.
In other words, do bee, do bee, dew.
As we enter the Arc of History’s waning days, we hear from a far-flung correspondent with some final thoughts about the soon-to-be removed sculpture.
Writing from the Bay Area, he’s a self-described “retired preceptor.” (A preceptor is a teacher responsible to uphold a certain law or tradition.)
His chosen nom de plume is “the Arch Villain.”
“Longtime reader, first time writer,” the Arch Villain begins.
“Before that (thing) disappears and fades from memory, we all need to address the fact that verbose artist Tom Holmes mislabeled his work as the Arc of History.
“Granted the artist is probably smarter than I am since he got $28K for it, but artistic liberties aside, it is not, and never will be, an arc,” the Arch Villain writes.
“An arc is a brilliant flash between positive and negative electrical charges (think lightning) or a segment of a circle (think slice of pizza). An arch is a curved structural component, curving up or down, usually supported by columns (think the Rainbow Arch.).”
It’s a matter of language. “In France, it could be the Arc de Histoire, like the Arc de Trimophe. But in the good ol’ USA, it should be the Arch of History,” the Arch Villain writes.
“I know it is extremely difficult to reteach something that has been incorrectly learned, but we should try. We can’t have Durangotangs walking around confusing arcs with arches, can we?”
The Arch Villain calls for inaction, which happens to be an Action Line specialty.
“Please leave the Arch as is. I don’t recall the Egyptians racing to tear down the Sphinx because the Nazis used its face for target practice. Besides, who would know the difference?”
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can ask for anonymity if your other Harley is a Honda.
