[Tagging] River crossing grade

[stevea]

I do like "plain language tag values" myself and I don't think I'm alone.  There is some hard work being done to "go more in this direction" (like protect_class numeric values being somewhat-aggressively deprecated for "plain language", with "good" success, not complete... so far).  I nod, many others do, too.

Values like wade, swim, dry, chest_deep likely need growth, tuning and to "standardize," but it's always good to start with a smart list (yes, likely incomplete and "at least a sensible first draft").  Zeke's and Paul's and the rest of us over time as tossed in here... looks as good as any.

It is work to design good tagging schemes with consensus values, used around the world.  OSM starts somewhere...and we often end up successful at it!  I enjoy the process as it sometimes unfolds here, it is fascinating.  This takes a lot of people talking to each other in wide spaces with broad sketches of ideas (at first).  Good for us.

Next up, somebody becomes a world expert on ford tagging and before you know it (if we're not already there), "river crossing" is off to the races.  These slivers of "the real world, expressed in a map database as tagging" is almost like watching a surreal cartoon being drawn and before you know it you think, "hey, this looks pretty good."

It's an honor to shape and mold the wet clay.