Tree Jewels or my Garden Chandelier!

  Have you ever been outside just wandering about on some early morn when all of a sudden you spy something glimmering in a tree?  It can be a sparkly dot way up in a tree top or a bit of brilliance in a bush but whatever it is, it is definitely eye-catching!  Well, I will ease your mind as to what you saw!  It was the elusive "tree jewel"!  I should know.  I see them all the time here on the Bayou.  Well, almost all of the time..rather, only on foggy morns.  The conditions have to be just right to find the tree jewels.  I have found that the jewels are more apt to be seen after a night of heavy fog and when the sun is just rising in the east.  Sparkles can be seen nigh on every branch but they are most unattainable.    The sparkling jewels seem to fade away just about the time you think you have honed in on their position.  

  This morning, the tree jewels were out in full force.  I was at the garden gate waiting on Ms. Ez to come back from her morning business when I first saw the things.  A large one was just to my left and a bit above the five foot tall garden fence.  I figured that I had time to rush in and grab the camera before the thing lost its luster.  Once I photographed the shimmery bit, I eased forward a bit but instantly lost sight of my jewel. Rats!  Where did that thing go?  

  My tree jewels are none other that bits of spiderwebbing that have caught hold of tiny droplets of water from the fog.  Once the sun breaks through the fog, it hits the water droplets causing them to gleam like gemstones.  This morning's jewel was more like a graceful bejeweled chandelier!  A spider had carefully spun its gossamer web around a cluster of leaves on the end of a long twig.  Dangling far down from the oak tree, the spiderweb chandelier sparkled brilliantly! Its beautiful, beaded strands sparkled with every light beam that struck it.  Wow! The beauty of nature is most awe-inspiring.  Perhaps on the next foggy morn, you should traipse outdoors and find your own tree jewels or maybe even an entire bejeweled chandelier!