Baby Volcanoes!

I used to babysit a lot of my nieces and nephews. It was fun and a good way for me to look as though I was doing something productive when actually playing! I had taken one of my nephews who was around six years old for a walk down by the bay. We were "exploring" which meant "hanging over the side of the pier to see what was under it"! Fun stuff there! It must have been very fascinating to him as we stayed there for what seemed like hours..in reality, probably only minutes but with the blood rushing to my head, I lost all sense of time. Anyway, in the process of dangling upside-down, we discussed what we saw. Mud! There is no shortage of that here..that seemed to interest him to no end..I guess it is a "boy" thing. There was an occasional minnow and perhaps a crab, but then he spied them..."Baby volcanoes!". Huh? Baby volcanoes?? What in the world? He pointed exuberantly! "Baby volcanoes!" Then I realized what he was so excited about. There on the pier post were clusters of barnacles..his "volcanoes"! I explained to him that these were not volcanoes but rather a tiny creature that somewhere down the line was kin to crabs. He looked at me like I was slap nuts. I went on and told him how they made their shells to protect themselves. That they lived in them just like we do houses. Without missing a beat, he asked "Why do they live in volcanoes?" I explained it all again and I thought he fully understood it this time..then hours later, he told his mother.."Mom! We saw baby volcanoes!" Oh, geez! I thought I had done so well explaining some sea life.

This memory sort of smacked me upside the head today! It is funny how seeing something can jog a memory from years ago. As I was out wandering around by the Bayou, I came across a large board that had several clusters of barnacles on it. It had obviously been in the water for some time to have acquired these as it takes a while for the little critter to build its shell house. I stood looking at the barnacle covered board. The barnacles had encrusted themselves onto the board and were impossible to remove. Anyone who has ever tried to scrape them off the bottom of a boat can attest that it is quite a job. The shells are razor sharp and can leave nasty cuts. I decided to leave the board where it was.

Baby volcanoes! I still not sure where in the world this name came from or why he thought barnacles looked like "baby volcanoes" or maybe on second thought..I can. The imagination is a wondrous thing! Still, it is a happy memory of time spent with a cute little fellow! I might just start calling them this..Baby Volcanoes!