Green, of course

I'd complain about what they do to fresh water around these parts on Saint Patrick's Day, but pouring a bunch of green dye in the river ain't the half of this particular waterway's story.  I mean, it's been a dumping canal for the stockyards, and they managed to make it flow backwards, among other things.

I won't even start carping about that Asian fish.  Given the holiday, I suppose I could start *harping,* but as I wouldn't be using a lyre, and likelihood of being lyrical is low, I'll skirt that harangue.

If I'm lucky, tomorrow I'll skirt around the hungover as well.  So many "honorary Irish," so many green gills.

***
Yesterday, I took some batting practice for the wearin' o' the green.  I put on Gap Grass lotion, then generously spritzed (two times! one arm!!) some Martin Mariegla Untitled.  Guess what?  Very nice.

That Martin Mariegla is an interesting creature; it manages to infuse galbanum--good old dry cool wind, hint of cigarette ash tray galbanum--with a vaguely resin-y sweetness that immediately said "add me to your green galbanum line-up, oh she who loves it so."  And the pairing of it with Gap Grass made a sort of complimentary harmony, seeing as Gap Grass manages to sweeten up green grass without needing to cut it down and turn it into hay.

Yup, it was a very "nice" green.  In the same way the "Irish Holiday" has been mangled into something that hyperfocuses on one story from an often turbulent a complex island, one story which has evolved into a vague tale of a sort of benevolent skinny Santa Claus who lifted his rood and walked all the snakes to the shore where they magically forever went away.

But--and here I raise my hand against the force of fierce edgy perfumistas--I do find that pleasantries are often, well, pleasant.  Sometimes we need to sidle up to a challenge like galbanum, serve our dark brew with a dab of honey, put caramelized onions on the cooked bitter greens, whatever, to help adjust to the taste.  I'm okay with that.  I'd say that Untitled makes a good gateway galbanum drug.

And a fitting way to wear the green, happy cleaned up American style.  You know, kind of like Saint Patrick used a shamrock to get across the idea of the holy trinity.




image of the Chicago River from Chicagoland Real Estate Forum

Shipwrecks: Doty found. Asian Carp, too.

At 291' long, the cargo ship Doty was a formidable lake vessel carrying a load of corn when it went down in a storm in October of 1898.  Waves were reported cresting at 30 feet.

That's less than half the length of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but still a lot of boat.

Seems appropriate that the announcement of its discovery yesterday was capped by ferocious storms that whipped through the area, snapping trees, knocking out power, and flooding expressways out of service.  The Doty was found in over 300' of water.

At 3' long, the asian carp is not too shabby in size as far as fish go.  Unfortunately for life forms in the Great Lakes, it isn't shipwrecked.  The fact that it was just found on Chicago's south side, in Lake Calumet, means it has moved beyond the electric barriers meant to contain it and keep it from moving into the Great Lakes.

So, it seems that 30' of waves can swallow nearly 300' of ship.  And a 3' fish is ominously approaching the source of 84% of North America's surface water supply.

Last night, the sky turned pea green, and winds topped 80 miles an hour.

This morning, it's beautiful fishing weather.

Not sure which feels more ominous at the moment.

Wonder if I could persuade Christopher Brosius to create a "Great Lakes accord"?  Wonder if it would be a momento mori?


further reading:
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article on discovering the Doty
a thorough account of the wreck at a fantastic site for shipwreck fans 
Yahoo news article on discovery of asian carp in Lake Calumet
So much for dumping poison (rotenone) in the Little Calumet River
If it were only this simple:  Eat 'em


images:
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Illinois DNR

Snow Melt

Typical formula for calculating "if that snow melted, how many inches of water would there be?":

10-12" snow = 1" water

Density of Friday's snow, in formula, according to local meteorologist:

3" snow = 1" water

Some people refer to this as "heart attack snow."  I like to think of it as extrait.  Come on over; we'll toss some whomping balls of extrait.   Or build an extrait fort.   

Eau What a Beautiful Day: Perfume and Fresh Water, Chicocoa Style

I wouldn't have, couldn't have, predicted my interests in perfume and fresh water would come together like this.

Yesterday morning, a cloud of fragrance enthusiasts gathered at the north end of North Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  By the time they were done wending their way down the Magnificent Mile, the clouds above had emptied over 6.6" of rain at O'Hare airport, an historical record for the area.  

But the enthusiasm of the group was stronger than the spitting of the sky. The gathering was not daunted.  In good spirits throughout the day, they sniffed and chatted and explored through the day and into the early evening, from L'A (L'Artisan) to Le Z (Liz Zorn).  

It's hard, if not impossible, to ask more from a day than to have a plethora of scent smelling opportunities in the company of a diverse but uniformly delightful group of people, peppered and capped by chocolate.  Nice.  Very nice.

UPDATE:

Read dispatches from others...

http://perfumeposse.com/2008/09/14/a-good-time-had-by-all

http://community.basenotes.net/showthread.php?p=1308487#post1308487

Retention Game: Great Lakes as Measure of Lasting Power

Ever heard of a lake's retention period?  Basically, it's how long it takes Mother Nature to perform a complete water change.  Being a fan of our tremendous fresh water resource AND fresh to perfumista-dom, I thought I'd explore categorizing the lasting power of a given scent according to our Great Lakes' retention periods.

Here's a spare model, which clearly could use some developing:

• Lake Erie*, retention period 2.6 years  =  Flower waters (rose, jasmine)
• Lake Ontario*, 6 years = Guerlain Eau de Cologne
• Lake Huron**, 22 years  =  Liz Zorn Sunset Rider, Chanel Bois des Iles
• Lake Michigan**, 99 years  =  Givency Amarige, Lanvin Arpege
• Lake Superior*, 191 years  =  Guerlain Shalimar

Feel free to help me out here!  Which perfumes are you still wearing the next morning (=Lake Superior); which are gone before the cocktail hour--which we know is 3 hours--is over?

retention periods gathered from *The Great Lakes Atlas, www.epa.gov/ginpo/atlas/, or the Wikipedia entry on "lake retention," www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_retention_time