Going to college in DC, my friends and I used to take weekend monument walks. One day when we came to the Korean War Memorial, I mentioned that I thought the shrubbery in between the statues were supposed to represent rice paddies. I think that when I visited DC as a kid my parents told me thats what they were to shut me up (or because kids believe almost anything, as I’ve learned while teaching).
My friends laughed at me, but I still don’t think rice paddies would be that much of a stretch.