Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Tumbleweed Junction

Out here in the wild (South)West, spring brings a plethora of nasty plants which go by the name of tumbleweeds.  They're called that because when the plant dies and dries, it breaks off and the large, sort of round top part tumbles across the deserts with the wind.  Where I live, in the high desert, there are thousands of them on pastureland and vacant lots.



Barbed wire (or as it's called down South "bob wire") fences catch a lot of them and I saw some town work crews out gathering them up and hauling them away this morning.

But the fences don't get all of them and frequently they are encountered on streets and highways.  They can get caught under one's car but usually they just kind of explode and scatter when they're hit.


Now if you've ever watched an old Western movie, you've no doubt seen tumbleweeds.  And there's even a great old song about them.



And yes, that fellow who came down the stairs and stopped to listen was the "King of the Cowboys" - Roy Rogers.

3 comments:

  1. My WT, an old Kansas boy, calls it "bob wire".

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  2. On our first drive to the west, my dad would break into the tune. I was intrigued by tumbling tumbleweeds and remember my fascination with the first one I saw.
    A couple of days later, they were old hat, and dad dropped the tune as well. Still, seeing one rolling across the road or headed at you, fires some old memory tapes.

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  3. It makes me feel quite old (ahem) when I hear this song. I remember it! I also remember being intrigued to see the actual tumbleweeds in movies, as we don't have them in NZ - or Oz.

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