Blogcutter and the Oobleck
Jul. 8th, 2020 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blogcutterThat old adage of two seasons, winter and construction, seems to apply equally well during a pandemic. If anything, it's even more applicable this year as restaurants struggle to create makeshift patios, roads get closed off and parking lots adapt to accommodate curb side pickup.
For the past few months they have been installing fibre optic cable in our neighbourhood, so that's nothing new. But what IS new is the green goop that we've seen sprayed on medians, easements and even right on people's lawns over the past few days. It looks like oobleck. During our daily walks and forays to collect our mail, we've been avoiding these areas, fearing that it might be weedkiller or some other substance that might be highly toxic to humans and other living creatures. Somewhat unusually, we hadn't had any sort of notification about it. No slips of paper in our mailbox, nor did I find anything on the City of Ottawa website. So I decided to investigate further.
The most likely explanation seems to be that it's a form of grass seed and they are hydroseeding:
https://www.quora.com/Hydroseeding-What-is-the-green-stuff-they-spray-to-grow-grass-on-the-side-of-the-road?share=1
I'd still like to do a little more research on any possible toxicity. Green isn't always green. Sometimes maybe it's soylent green? I think I still prefer the idea of oobleck though.
Something else I hadn't realized until I got caught up in my surfing and exploring was how much there is out there about oobleck. I knew that Dr. Seuss books remain popular and I knew about the popularity of Slime (the Silly Putty or Nutty Putty or Crazy Foam of the modern era?) Here's just one example, which may provide a little boredom relief for kids unable to pursue their normal summertime activities:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Oobleck/
For the past few months they have been installing fibre optic cable in our neighbourhood, so that's nothing new. But what IS new is the green goop that we've seen sprayed on medians, easements and even right on people's lawns over the past few days. It looks like oobleck. During our daily walks and forays to collect our mail, we've been avoiding these areas, fearing that it might be weedkiller or some other substance that might be highly toxic to humans and other living creatures. Somewhat unusually, we hadn't had any sort of notification about it. No slips of paper in our mailbox, nor did I find anything on the City of Ottawa website. So I decided to investigate further.
The most likely explanation seems to be that it's a form of grass seed and they are hydroseeding:
https://www.quora.com/Hydroseeding-What-is-the-green-stuff-they-spray-to-grow-grass-on-the-side-of-the-road?share=1
I'd still like to do a little more research on any possible toxicity. Green isn't always green. Sometimes maybe it's soylent green? I think I still prefer the idea of oobleck though.
Something else I hadn't realized until I got caught up in my surfing and exploring was how much there is out there about oobleck. I knew that Dr. Seuss books remain popular and I knew about the popularity of Slime (the Silly Putty or Nutty Putty or Crazy Foam of the modern era?) Here's just one example, which may provide a little boredom relief for kids unable to pursue their normal summertime activities:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Oobleck/
