Week 8 - Post 3: Ossified

When and where: In the article "Repower LA" in the November/December 2013 issue of Sierra Magazine.  My significant other's grandma loves to shower me with assorted magazines when we travel out to her house.  And when the Bills are losing, I especially love to get them.  I hadn't read Sierra before - I usually aim for Smithsonian, National Geographic, and Popular Science.  I was drawn to this issue because of a particularly snowy bison on the cover, and its relevance to the annihilation of the buffaloes on the TV.

The article discusses how a group of politicians and members of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power used to use scare tactics to get citizens to support water rights for specific rivers.  The Department is trying to change that attitude, and help LA revamp its water and energy usage while providing jobs for local people.  The article asks, "How did an ossified utility come to link arms with activists and environmentalists?"

Level of familiarity: Honestly, the first image that popped into my head was of a bird.  Like a giant kiwi kind of bird.  I knew this wasn't right, because ossified is used in contrast with activists, and in comparison to using scare tactics.  So I'm thinking ossified must be an adjective that refers to something that doesn't support change.

What it means: Merriam Webster online dictionary defines ossify as an adjective that is used to describe something that is unable to change or turned to a bone-like substance.

Reflective commentary: Even though the wrong image popped into my head, I knew that I had heard this word before. I remember hearing about diseases that turn muscle into "bone".  It makes sense that a word that means to turn to bone would also mean for a company to resist change, and wont bend.  It's like a metaphor all wrapped up in one word.