The Way I See It - Mud resurrected

Permalink +

Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 4:39 am  //  Ham Hayes

It took the winner less than a minute to navigate the course. Some who brought up the rear may still be there. Photo: Ham Hayes
It is time we gave “mud” back its good name. This was especially evident at the “Samish Bay Bivalve Bash” held this last Saturday at Taylor Shellfish Farms. This year’s Bash, the 8th Annual, was noted by many visitors I talked with as being the best one yet for organization, especially with regard to transportation. Since there is virtually no parking at the farm, two shuttle bus routes were set up. Continuous service was provided, one to the village of Blanchard and the other to Bow-Edison High School. They were fast, courteous, and both the shuttle and parking were free!
 
The Bash, which benefits a number of clean water awareness programs, is most noted for “The Mud Run.” This is undoubtedly the toughest 250 yard race anywhere in the galaxy (100 yards for kids.) The defining element is a three-foot layer of Samish Bay’s finest non-living ingredient, its slate-gray mud. It has the consistency of quick-drying cement and is deeeeep. It is so deep that a number of “runners” who fell had to be extracted by rescuers. If a runner hadn’t duct-taped his or her shoes on, those shoes would almost certainly resurface as a fossil sometime in the far future. 
 
Not to be outdone by The Mud Run, the “World’s Only Oyster Shell Sculpture Contest” (according to Bash officials) lasts longer than the run and provides heaps of oyster shells for individuals and families to test their architectural and artistic hand with the world’s most difficult construction material. If the Romans had used oyster shells for their aqueducts, we would still be using buckets to carry our water. The Bash is really a family affair. Crab races, shucking contests and a mud-tug-of-war among other activities filled the day. 
 
What fills in between the activities is, of course, food. A number of local restaurants provided a wide variety of incredibly delicious shellfish fare including oysters (raw and grilled,) mussels, and clams. There were salmon and hot dog BBQs for the non-bivalve-consuming crowd as well.  The topper of this food frenzy was a layer of real whipped cream supported underneath by a combination of fresh raspberries and blueberries heaped on a shortcake made for the gods. All of that washed down by an award winning Washington state chardonnay, local microbrew, or fruit pop. 
 
One thing missing from this great bit of Northwest Americana was any evidence of a political campaign. I considered that to be a blessing and it got me thinking about the mud. The most common usage of the word “mud” these days is in politics, as in "mud-slinging" or the similar "muckraking". Mud-slinging is the practice of trying to discredit political opponents by spreading lies, distortions, and/or innuendo about them. According to several web sources it derives from the Latin phrase, "fortiter calumniari, aliquia adhaerebit," or "throw plenty of dirt and some of it will stick." So it looks as if mud-slinging, or at least “dirt-throwing” has been with humanity for a long time, probably since the first politician. The term “muckraking” is attributed to President Teddy Roosevelt.  He was referring to reporters who only focused “exclusively on corruption without providing a positive outlook for social problems.” (iAmericanSpirit.) Whether or not "muck" and "mud" are synonymous, the concepts seem closely related.  I suspect muckraking has really been around a long time as well, but under a different name. 
 
We certainly seem to have more than enough slingers and rakers these days, to the point where all that slinging and raking has become quite wearisome. It was really refreshing to find out what mud is really all about, like races and kid’s laughter and eating all those bivalves under Northwest summer skies. All because of that wonderful Samish Bay mud. I say we give mud its proper due and remove all references to mud from the political lexicon. I can think of far worse things to throw at a politician than mud. How about another politician? So going forward, please use the term “politician-slinging” and “politician-raking” when talking or writing about those dispiriting and demeaning practices used too often and by too many in our political arenas.

The Way I See It - Mud resurrected

Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 4:39 am  //  Ham Hayes

It is time we gave “mud” back its good name.

0 comments

The Way I See It - En Garde

Wed, Jul 21, 2010, 4:42 am  //  Ham Hayes

“We have lots of robberies.” As I reported last week, that was the apocalyptic statement by the investigating officer to our recent plight in St.…

0 comments

The Way I See It - From Russia with Love

Wed, Jul 14, 2010, 5:17 pm  //  Ham Hayes

Ham's final post on his travel comments from Russia.

0 comments

The Way I See It - Heart and Gut

Wed, Jun 16, 2010, 4:56 am  //  Ham Hayes

Our society is out of its mind. Well, maybe not quite completely, but it needs to be.

0 comments

The Way I See It – The Return of the Grail: Seek Truth. Speak It.

Wed, Jun 02, 2010, 4:22 am  //  Ham Hayes

The unfolding story through time and space in France

3 comments; last on May 19, 2010

The Way I See It - Flights of Fancy

Wed, May 05, 2010, 4:24 am  //  Ham Hayes

Ham is preparing for another fun filled trip by air.

1 comments; last on May 05, 2010

The Way I See It - Mandatory Citizenship

Wed, Apr 28, 2010, 4:54 am  //  Ham Hayes

Mandatory voting - Worth it, or too high a price ?

3 comments; last on Jun 09, 2010

The Way I See It - Self

Wed, Apr 14, 2010, 4:58 am  //  Ham Hayes

Procrastination, thy name is Self

0 comments

The Way I See It - Tea Party on a roll

Wed, Apr 07, 2010, 4:58 am  //  Ham Hayes

The Tea Party reflects a major shift in citizen political participation.

7 comments; last on Apr 13, 2010

The Way I See It - Cranes and cows

Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:59 am  //  Ham Hayes

Sandhill Cranes: the Columbia River Basin's swallows of Capistrano

0 comments

The Way I See It - Epic of Gilgamesh

Wed, Mar 24, 2010, 4:48 am  //  Ham Hayes

From the earliest known writings of humanity, we hear the voices of distressed peoples.

2 comments; last on Mar 29, 2010

The Way I See It - Healthcare Reprise

Wed, Mar 17, 2010, 4:59 am  //  Ham Hayes

Public approval of Congress continues to slide and for good reason.

0 comments

The Way I See It - Choose your poison

Wed, Mar 10, 2010, 4:49 am  //  Ham Hayes

How we, the public, choose to respond to growing polarization in our society is crucial.

1 comments; last on Mar 10, 2010

The Way I See It - The Fall of Science

Wed, Mar 03, 2010, 5:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Enough has been revealed, written and said about “Climate-gate” for me to be alarmed.

7 comments; last on Mar 07, 2010

The Way I See It - Beware AHD

Wed, Feb 24, 2010, 5:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Hockey night in Canada may be replaced.

2 comments; last on Feb 25, 2010

The Way I See It - “I’ve got your back.”

Wed, Feb 17, 2010, 5:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Leaders in government need to rethink their approach.

0 comments

The Way I See It - Beauty or Beast?

Wed, Feb 10, 2010, 4:59 am  //  Ham Hayes

Unlike other species, we need more than basic survival strategies.

1 comments; last on Feb 11, 2010

The Way I See It—Quetzal Talk

Wed, Feb 03, 2010, 5:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Ham is vacationing in Costa Rica. He sends us his observations.

0 comments

The Way I See It - Death by Secrecy

Wed, Jan 27, 2010, 4:59 am  //  Ham Hayes

Issues are no longer relevant when secrecy is the name of the game.

1 comments; last on Jan 27, 2010

The Way I See It - Upheaval!

Wed, Jan 20, 2010, 5:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

The earthquake in Haiti is a new reminder that we must also be prepared.

0 comments

The Way I See It - Don’t Eat That!

Wed, Jan 13, 2010, 4:59 am  //  Ham Hayes

What will New York's proposed salt reduction laws do for us?

0 comments

The Way I See It - Flying Blind

Wed, Jan 06, 2010, 4:59 am  //  Ham Hayes

The screening of several million airline passengers a day is a huge task--and not being very well done.

2 comments; last on Jan 09, 2010

The Way I See It - Decade “Change”

Wed, Dec 30, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Paul Krugman of the New York Times calls the now departing decade, “Decade Zero.” My wife and I are traveling this week to visit three…

1 comments; last on Dec 30, 2009

The Way I See It - Be Thankful

Wed, Dec 23, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

I recently heard Nicholas Kristof speak on the oppression of women and girls around the world. He and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, have just published…

0 comments

The Way I See It - Season’s Greetings

Wed, Dec 16, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

It’s the Season. As a country and a society we come from many diverse cultures and belief systems. And few other countries in the world…

0 comments

The Way I See It - Sad days in Congress

Wed, Dec 09, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Most companies depend on customer satisfaction to stay in business. If our U.S. Congress were a company, it would be in deep trouble on that…

10 comments; last on Dec 12, 2009

The Way I See It - The gift that keeps on giving

Wed, Dec 02, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

A news article appeared just before Thanksgiving on banning land mines. The Obama administration has decided not to sign the Mine Ban Treaty after recently…

1 comments; last on Dec 02, 2009

The Way I See It - Los Angeles Resurrected

Wed, Nov 25, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

I’ve been to Los Angeles many times. I even remember the Red and Yellow electric street cars that served the city from after World War…

0 comments

The Way I See It - Healthcare, A New Lesson

Wed, Nov 11, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

We certainly do need healthcare reform. The “debate” in the House has been a fascinating and conflicting mix of ideology, political power, idealism, facts, pragmatism…

21 comments; last on Nov 13, 2009

The Way I See It - The State

Wed, Nov 04, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Few of us advocate for the suppression of the human spirit. In fact we would be shocked if others characterized us as miserly, mean spirited…

1 comments; last on Nov 04, 2009

The Way I See It - Protect the Net

Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

We are looking at the all but certain demise of printed newspapers, and the conversion of TV and cable news into entertainment. Our last, best…

0 comments

The Way I See It - Compassion, Dead or Alive?

Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Compassion: We get it, and then we don’t get it. Merriam-Webster defines compassion as the “sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to…

0 comments

 

NwCitizen 1995 to 2008

Early Northwest Citizen

New

Citizen Ted
Skookum.us
WikiLeaks.org

Current Interest

Auditor election page
Skookum.us
WA State Elections

Local

Bellingham Herald
Bham Politics & Economics
Bob Sanders
Carl Weimer
Cascadia Weekly
Citizen Ted
Ferndale R-J
Foothills Gazette
John Watts
KGMI
Latte Republic
Lynden Tribune
Mainstreampolitics
Northern Light
Northwest Review
Sam Taylor
Skookum.us
Twilight Zoning
Wally Wonders
Washington Outsiders
Western Front - WWU
Whatcom Watch

Local causes

Bham CofC political blog
Chuckanut Mountains
Citizens of Bellingham
City Club of Bham
Conservation NW
Cordata & Meridian
Futurewise - Whatcom
Lake Whatcom
N. Cascades Audubon
N. Sound Conservancy
Neighborhood Schools Coalition
No Leaky Buckets
NW Holocaust Center
RE Sources
Skookum.us
Transition Whatcom
WA Conservation Voters

Local Leisure

Adventures NW
Entertainment NNW

Climate & Weather

Climate Audit
Watts Up With That?
Weather by Cliff Mass

Cascadia

Crosscut Seattle
Joel Connelly
Orcinus
Portland Indy Media
Seattle Indy Media
Washington Votes

Leisure

Am Cup - GGYC view
Am Cup legal fight

Worth checking out

Al-Jazeera online
Alaska Dispatch
AlterNet.org
Antiwar.com
Arab News
Asia Times
Atlantic, The
Buzz Flash
Common Dreams
counterpunch
Daily Beast, The
Daily Kos
Daily Mirror
Drudge Report
FiveThirtyEight
Foreign Policy in Focus
Guardian Unlimited
Gulf News
Haaretz
Huffington Post
Innocence Project, The
Intrnational Herald Tribune
James Fallows
Jerusalem Post
Juan Cole
Le Diplo
Media Matters
Middle East Times
MoveOn.org
Nation, The
New American Century
News Trust
NMFA
numbers
Online Journal
Palestine Daily
Palestine News
Personal bio info
Politico
Progressive Review
Project Vote Smart
Reuters
Sea Shepherd
Slate
Talking Points Memo
The Onion
Tom Paine.com
truthout
War and Piece
WikiLeaks.org
ynetnews.com

Governments

Auditor election page
Bellingham
Bham - PFD
Skagit County
The White House
WA State Access
WA State Elections
WA State Legislature
Whatcom Auditor
Whatcom County

Other - for whatever

BushFlash.com
Chickehhawks
Doonesbury
George Bush
Info Clearing House
Michael Moore
Reality News
The Crisis Papers
Third World Traveler
Unity08

Election 2009

- Candidate Forum - video
- Mike McAuley endorsement
Bham #6 - Catherine Chambers
Bham #6 - Michael Lilliquist
Bham At Large - Orphalee
Bham At Large - Seth
County #1 - Dan McShane
County #1 - Kathy Kershner
County #2 - Ken Mann
County #2 - Mary B Teigrob
County #3 - Carl Weimer
County #3 - Michelle Luke
County At Large - Bill
County At Large - Laurie
Port #1 - John Blethen
Port #1 - Scott Walker
Port #2 - Doug Smith
Port #2 - Mike McAuley

2010 Winter Olympics

Amy Goodman Interrogation
No 2010 Olympics
No women ski jumpers
Olympics muzzle free speech
Olympics Resistance Network
Page of Links
Spectacle Vancouver
Zirin on Olympics

Less active

Eye on Whatcom
Post-Oklahoman Confessions
The American Telegraph

Quiet, offline or dead

David Hackworth
Gitmo prisoner 345
Mega Awesome
Not in my county
Parkenfarker
Pro-Whatcom