Purple Loosestrife
In this weeks Water Closet, Pike offers a different perspective on what are often called “invasive species”. The term itself often raises fears of some foreign plant species taking over our landscape at the expense of native plant species. Purple loosestrife is one example that raised such fears a decade age, however those fears did not materialize and Purple Loosestrife today is on the wane, whether thru man’s intervention or the natural balance of nature is left for the readers conjecture. The story makes for interesting reading and may even influence how people think about “invasive species”.
LANDINGS ALONG THE RIVER
The following Water Closet, written by Pike Messenger, is a wonderful and fitting tribute to the efforts of The Middleton Stream Team who worked tirelessly over the last ten plus years to transform five forgotten and overgrown sites along the Ipswich River into clean, inviting and beautiful public spaces highlighting the hidden jewel flowing through our community
MOOSE ENCOUNTER
In this week’s Water Closet, Pike relates a story by forestry researcher, Arthur McKee of his surreal encounter with a moose in Alaska at temperatures between minus 50 and 55 degrees. The story is a testament to the adaptability and beauty of nature. Unfortunately, Arthur did not have a camera with him at the time, but his story paints a word picture that I think will amaze and delight readers.
GOOD BYE RITA, WE’LL NOT FORGET THEE
On Sunday afternoon July 28, 2013 Middleton lost one of its most energetic citizens. Rita M. (McGilloway) Kelley, 86, longtime friend of the Stream Team and almost anyone else who ever met her, died. How can we relate her to water, our subject?