Plastic octopus intervention

"I coulda killed somebody!"

I took the family on a special field trip today to the ditch behind the fence. We went to find stones for flower-bed edging. Before you accuse me of rock-rustling, understand that this swale is continually filling with debris and having to be dredged for flood control. I felt no compunction about removing a couple of wagonloads of small stones and broken concrete, especially since we also picked up plastic.

For a little area there was a lot of crud: juice and soda bottles, shredded landscape cloth and assorted plastic toys including the afflicted cephalopod above. He obviously understands how close he came, during the next storm, to washing downhill into the big creek and on to the Gulf of Mexico, where he might have become some unfortunate sea creature's last meal.

It's raining a little right now, but Octie has a new home indoors with Hurricanehead, who thinks he's a swell toy. Hurricanehead also found a small plastic boat that Octie rides in. I should tell the grandparents to forget the mall this Christmas and go inspect their local drainage ditches for gifts.