Bayous weren't flushed by any tides in the swamps of north Louisiana where I grew up.
I also believe it is Houma, not Homa. There is a Homer -- the Houma/Homer thing used to confuse the hell out of me when I was a kid. Dave ------------------------------------------------------ David M. Lawrence | Home: (804) 559-9786 7471 Brook Way Court | Fax: (804) 559-9787 Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] USA | http: http://fuzzo.com ------------------------------------------------------ "We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo "No trespassing 4/17 of a haiku" -- Richard Brautigan -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ben Lieb Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 9:58 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Bayou according to a Cajun In reply to the interesting discussion about the definition of a bayou, I recently asked the same question to the Cajun marine biologist fella I work with. He is native to Bayou du Large, south of Homa, Louisiana. According to him, a bayou is a specific hydrofeature, and not a slang term for any murky slowmoving body of water. He distinguishes the bayou from the surrounding marsh, he calls it, which is a flat and grass covered expanse. The bayou is a dead end inlet that is flushed by tides once a day in his native region. Bayous are typically separated by fairly narrow finger ridges covered by bottomland hardwoods. To live "on the bayou" is to live on this ridge with your property backing down to the water. I would give this guy some weight on the matter, he grew up trawling shrimp with his daddy and running around in what he calls a "mud boat", a plywood skiff where you sit on top a v6 hooked up to an inboard shaft. It's also a Cajun term I'm pretty sure, but in the south linguistics are very easily corrupted to mean other things, it seems. Any Cajuns out there should put in a word about it. Ben Lieb _________________________________________________________________ Pack up or back up-use SkyDrive to transfer files or keep extra copies. Learn how. http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_ skydrive_packup_042008
