023 Fish And Colds

[brigid]

Mirrored from brigidkeely.com/wordpress.

Congestion of the head and chest is a common complaint in the Mid West, in the winter. There is a little known but very effective, if slightly difficult, cure.

One must catch a fish from the River and bring it, still alive, to the afflicted person. At this point, the afflicted person must exhale three times into the fish’s open mouth.

The fish, still living, must then be cast back into the River it was caught in.

Purchasing a fish, as from a pet store, will not affect a cure.

There was once a small frog native to the area that, when held in the mouth for half a minute, would affect a more complete cure. However, that species is now extinct.

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Comments

[sara]

I like this one, too -- not least because around here, in the traditional language, movements through the landscape and geographic locations are entirely described in terms which relate them to where the rivers are.

[brigid]

Yeah, I'm trying to emphasize how important the Chicago River is... and also how much it's been changed by man. Chicago is a super artificial city. The river was dug deeper, widened, re-routed, and reversed. The entire city was raised several feet (6-10, I think) because it was sinking into the swamp, and the shoreline is an artificial construction built atop debris from the Great Chicago Fire.