Today is World Wetlands Day, the anniversary of the signing of
the Convention on Wetlands, or the Ramsar Convention, in Ramsar,
Iran in 1971. Throughout history, wetlands have been vilified,
feared and ostracized as the breeding grounds for malaria,
yellow fever, and probably the entire menagerie of Ancient
pestilential miasma. Considered useless, a wasteland, an
obstacle to a civilization's Manifest Destiny, power, and glory.
Cursed by architects, e.g. Vitruvius, and civil engineers for
their anti-classical instability and suppleness. Deemed a
cesspit. Sulfuric. Methanous. A neverending putrescence that
poisons the air of nearby cities. The abode of the Swamp
Monster, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the boogey-man;
the hiding places of escaped murderers and pederasts; the secret
rendezvous of satanic occultists; and where incestuous cousins
come for their tryst. Dante and Milton have certainly demonized
them. The embodiment of sin and impurity. The darkest expression
of a corrupted inner self. That w