This is it....

  I hear a common remark from folks all the time.  "How can you just stay on the Bayou every day and not go somewhere...anywhere?"  I spent some time pondering this and finally think that I have arrived at the perfect answer....I am happy here.  Yep, this is my little piece of Paradise.  I do not need the hectic rat-race, the dog-eat-dog craziness of the rest of the world.  On the Bayou, I can escape even from reality for a bit if I so desire.  

  The Bayou also feeds my imagination.  There is never a dull moment if one knows where to look and that "place" is anyplace.  It just takes a different mindset than what most are accustomed to having.  I, personally, can find excitement in watching an insect morph from nymph to adulthood.  I can thrill at the setting of the sun over the pines or the moon rising above the water.  Equally, I am enthralled at seeing baby marsh hens tumble onto the mudflats as they follow in the footsteps of their mom.  I see beauty in the plainest of items and find excitement in the most mundane of events.  The Bayou is full to the brim with adventures.

  This evening, the Bay was as calm as glass.  The lights from Keesler Air Force Base (across the Bay) left long streaks of reflections shooting on the water.  It did not take long before my brain shot into gear creating a multiple of scenarios to accompany the sight.  Perhaps the lights were an armada of alien spaceships flying in to save this world from certain destruction.  Contrary to what most folks believe, aliens are friendly!  Or, maybe, the lights were stars that have aligned in a certain sequence to bring peace to an unsettled community of humans. Or, better yet, maybe the lights were a sign that all one needs is truly to find an inner peace and that all begins with just one person...me.  

  Whatever the case, my Bayou and the Bay do bring a peace to me. This is why I am able to be happy here.  My peace starts within myself...the area just adds to this.  Find your own peace.  Whether it be in some remote place or your very own backyard.  The place really does not matter, what is in your heart does.  I promise you...if you look hard enough at the nighttime sky, you WILL find stars that are in the perfect alignment to bring tranquility even if only while you are staring at them. (And you do not even need a Bayou to do that!)