Biscuits and Gravy Canal

There are more serious (and sadder) things going on in my life, but the trivial makes for much better (and more humorous) blog topics. So let me tell you about what they're doing to the body of water to the West of my office.

For those who are regular readers (hi mom!) you'll know that my new office building is on the East side of the Downtown Canal. Before being on the canal regularly, I thought it was a beautiful sight and would be wonderful to walk along on my lunch hours. Well, it is great to have the canal and walkways, but it isn't exactly beautiful. Algae, weeds, leaves, and debris clutter the canal. My office is at the North end where the basin is. Often that basin is so full of gunk that it looks like you could walk across it without getting wet. Thankfully the city of Indianapolis is going to clean the canal up. They are going to drain the canal and then scrape the bottom clean. That's the good news. Now the bad news. Today's Indianapolis Star reports the following:

- "[The project] will temporarily transform the urban waterway into a sludge pit."

- "Any non-native species [of fish] will be removed. 'Like if it's a piranha or something'"

- "It'll eventually get to a biscuits-and-gravy-type consistency"

Yes, that's right. Starting next month I can look out the windows or take a walk along a canal filled with sludge that has a "biscuits-and-gravy-type" consistency. Also, since this is a city-funded project and I happen to also live in Indianapolis, I get to pay for this as well. Woohoo! So if anyone has a gas mask or maybe just a clothespin to protect me from the smell of sludge, I'd appreciate it if you could lend it to me.