Out in the Toolies

I was caught speaking Californian again. I left the Golden State a long time ago, but old habits and speech patterns die hard. In an email to The World’s Greatest Critique Group, I referred to the rural suburb where I live as “the toolies.” I was unsure of the spelling so I asked Tim Bogar, our resident spelling bee champ, to help me out. He looked it up and sent me this link.

Tules or toolies refers to bulrushes or the swampy area where they grow – in California. I took these photos 2.5 miles from my house.

Is this not a swamp?

Are these not bulrushes? Okay, the plants aren’t the same species that grow in California, let’s not split cattails.

I feel compelled to mention the tule fog. Once as a foolish young college student, I tried to drive from UC Davis to Los Angeles through a tule fog. I survived, but that was pure dumb luck.

Tule Fog photo from flickr.com