Wah! Mi Ga Splut!

Yesterday I took a walk down by the river side along the Schuylkill River-side Trail her in Pennsylvania, mostly interested in seeing how much the rains from Topical Storm Hanna have raised the river - I took no pictures of the river as it - it wasn't especially photogenic.

What was on Friday, a jumbled pile of rocks with a trickle full of algae in it, looked very much like a swollen stream of chocolate milk rushing downstream - full of dead branches and debris.

While there was no flooding locally, there was a good deal of rain on Saturday, and later in the day the winds started to pick up - the air was full of unsettled excitement - and moisture. The winds knocked over a couple trees onto the roadway of the Pennsylvania Turnpike which fortunately I saw before running over them in my car at speed.

The rains however have chased some of the local wildlife around - I saw lots of deer but not many birds, chin strap or otherwise, nor did I see any squirrels. The trail was a little covered with wet leaves, blown down hickory nuts (you sure don't want to step on those accidentally!) and sticks. So I had to watch my footing a little bit more closely than usual.

I did look up from time to time to see what might be flowing down the river - or hiding behind the trees, and that is when it happened. I heard this faint, "Wah! Mi ga splut!" I stopped, dead in my tracks, and thought to myself, "Say what?"

Than I heard, "Ohm! Wah mi nut ga splut."

Was I in the presence of ancient native American Indians spirits? was this ancient Lenape Indian tongue I was hearing? I stood there - motionless for a bit, and then shuffled my feet a little, when I heard "Ohm! Wah mi nut ga splut! Wah mi ga sploit!"

This time, even with my poor hearing, the sound seemed to be coming from near my feet, and then I saw who was speaking to me.



I said to the worm, "I do not understand, umm, I do not speak Earthworm-ese," while using really useless hand gestures and signs. I continued by saying, "I did not mean to frighten you or to step on you," while I pantomimed with exaggerated motions.

The worm looked up and said, "You nitwit, Wormy speak English."

I looked at him, quite puzzled, "Huh, 'Wah! Mi ga splut!?'"

"Yes," said the Worm, "Wah! Me go splut!" and whan you stopped, I said "Oh! Wormy not go splut! Please! Get the wax out of your ears! When you shifted your feets, you just missed me with one of your big, ummm, worm-splutters! you goof!"

"Oh! I'm sorry - I'll be careful! I don't want to splut or sploit you!"