Something is strange with my blogs. For some reason my search engine hits are climbing at (for here anyway) unusual rates. Believe me I’m not complaining, I might make some new friends. A five and six fold increase in the number of hits is appreciated, and if most of them are here to see my photo’s, even better.

Looking out the kitchen window I can see the drive to work will be another gray one. The only difference today is it’s fog and not low clouds…Well maybe I should say it’s lower clouds than last time. Add to that or temperature is already 70 and it should be a great summer day in the mountains…Oh yea, it’s winter on the Texas coast…

A great way to start the day is this story from the Houston Chronicle…

Bayous are flush with fecal bacteria | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle
Houston’s most underreported environmental problem? Toilet bacteria in the bayous.

Fecal pathogens are thriving in the regional waterways. Buffalo and White Oak bayous have bacterial counts that rank among the highest in Texas.

The causes are many. Treatment plant overflows, leaking sewage pipes, suburban sprawl and fertilizer runoff are contributing to excessive bacteria in places where people fish, boat, even swim.

Fecal bacteria are the most common contaminants for waterways in Harris, Galveston, Montgomery, Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, according to the report.

But toxic pollutants also are a problem, with dioxin found in catfish and crabs in many waterways, including Greens Bayou, Halls Bayou, San Jacinto Bay and Upper Galveston Bay. The full report can be found at www.centerforhoustonsfuture .org.

Swim in these bayous? I wouldn’t think anyone would be doing that anywhere near Houston. The bayou behind our house runs through mostly rural (so far, but building up quickly) countryside. But even it runs past enough small housing developments to make it problematic that someone isn’t dumping sewage into the water. A few years back it became quite a problem when it was discovered that the street of houses just upstream from us had their septic overflow tied into the storm drains which dumped straight into the bayou…And had for over 40 years.

So would I fish or swim in these waterways? Only in a matter of life and death and then I would want a course of antibiotics afterwards…