There's a Killer Weed in Lake Caddo!

Um, this really does have something to do with business.

Really!

I was sitting at Rick's Cafe Boatyard, having a leisurely lunch with one of my clients a dear friend. We were catching up on her business doings. She described her partnerrship: they were still ineffective in problem-solving and it wasn't going much of anywhere. One, for example, would point out a problem and then blame one of the other partners for it (ignoring his own performance). Another, knowing that reducing errors is a chief way to increase the bottom line in the business, just hasn't taken action to create the needed systems (for a couple of years).

Just when I thought it was going to get depressing enough that I was going to have to start drinking (and I'm not an imbiber), she said: "There's a killer weed in Lake Cadd0."

Brilliant!

I'd actually seen the news report she was referring to and knew that the sun hadn't completely baked her noggin. See, at the border between Texas and Louisiana, there's a lake that's gotten choked with what the U.S. Geological Survey calls the world's most noxious weed. Reports explain that it is "under siege by a fast-spreading, Velcro-like aquatic fern, Salvinia molesta, also known as Giant Salvinia." The South American weed, which can double in size in just two days, covers everything in the lake and everything under the weed dies.

Evil plants. Kind of like the Triffids. I digress.


Here's the thing: Texans have leaped into action (or as nearly as they can given the heat), spraying and hacking at the villainous vine, but to little avail. Even singer Don Henley, who has a small home on a nearby waterway, has taken action to protect the landscape on the Texas side of the waters. The Louisianans? Not so. Now the Texans are putting up nets to keep the green invader on the Louisiana side of the fence.

In reminding me about this recent story, she was telling me that she had exactly the same kind of ineffective action taking place: varying levels of awareness, blame, finger-pointing, ineffective action, taking sides.

This is why I really like this woman.

We were quiet for a while, watching the boats on the reservoir. Wanting to open up another subject, I asked her what she thought about the property tax situation in the city. Her response: "There's a killer weed in Lake Caddo."

And she quietly took another sip of her iced tea and watched the ducks fly out over the water