Wednesday, September 17, 2008

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

3 comments:

Lori Van Hoesen said...

I had no idea what Toolies were. Thanks for the new word. :o)
--Lori

TimInMich said...

That's funny, Ann! Great pictures, too.
I hope your mom had a nice birthday. I didn't see the entry until after our meeting.
-- Tim

Anonymous said...

I am so glad my husband found your blog.
I said out in the toolies to my husband the other day and he had no idea what I was talking about.

I am 50 now and had left CA when I was 18. I am glad to know that some of the CA girl is still in me.