copyright 2004 S. D. HillSo I'm driving down the street, heading home, and I look off to my left. There's a speed limit sign, says 35 mph, reasonable for the neighborhood. But this sign is in the bottom of a drainage canal.
All I can think is "Man, those ducks must be fast to need a 35 mph speed limit." But who enforces the limit? The egret that hangs out there some days? Or maybe the goat who lives with the two horses who frequently graze down inside the canal. Perhaps the speed limit is for the horses, but they wouldn't get far, the canal is only half a mile long.
Another possibility: those turtles. They can really get going fast in the water. Do the fish swim that fast? Are there fish in the canal? Probably. The canal most likely connects to a larger body of water somewhere along the line. The water has to drain somewhere.
But it still doesn't answer the two basic questions: which denizens of the canal need to be slowed down to 35 mph and who enforces that speed limit?