Friday, March 26, 2010

There's Something in a Name

Often, the name of a place provides key information about said locale.

Case in point. When a friend and I were planning a pack trip a few years back, the names of two places in the region we would be traveling caught our eye. Dead Horse Creek and Big Mosquito Valley. For reasons which should be obvious to the casual observer, we immediately eliminated both of them from the list of possible destinations or paths of travel.

Now, I'm not always the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I'm fairly certain that I would never build or purchase a home at a place named Washaway Beach.

It would appear, however, that some people do not think the way I do.

4 comments:

Buck said...

It would appear, however, that some people do not think the way I do.

I'm with ya. I was always amazed while driving on the Pacific Coast Highway down in SoCal at all the pricey houses perched on stilts high on bluffs overlooking the ocean. Part of my amazement was that these homeowners with more money than sense could actually get insurance on the things... Go figure.

Andy said...

Dave, this is yet another reason that I will not go to Blue Balls, Kentucky...or Bald Knob, Arkansas.

Or, Gore, Oklahoma...

Gordon Scott said...

There's a reason for those names. Up around Devil's Lake, North Dakota, the folks on the reservation told tales of how the lake used to be much higher than it was in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

Sure enough, in the 90s, the lake started rising. There's a whole lotta homesites that are under 20 feet of water now. It might even rise enough to overflow, and the water will find its way to Canada. Canada doesn't want it, because it has rude uncultured fish, unlike the polite, well-mannered Canuckian fish.

bothenook said...

around here, allergy sufferers would do well to take note of what the indian name Suisun means (west wind). especially if they decide to move to Fairfield.