August...Autumn...Whatever

  It has to be fall.  I know according to all sources, we have an entire month to go before Autumn.  That is reality.  That is what the so-called experts say.  Here on the Bayou, I am ready now.  I want Autumn in August.  It makes sense.  Both start with the same letters so they should be together.  It is as simple as that.  In my world, the fall season should start as soon as July is over.  On the Bayou at least, things are going to be that way regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.

  My hike took me around back to the Boysenberry patch.  I could hear hummingbirds battling over the Red Trumpet flowers and was in hopes of catching a photograph or two of them.  It did not happen.  I was waylaid by berries!  Not berries of the Boysenberry kind but of the Beautyberry kind.  The American Beautyberry bush was absolutely living up to its name.  It was gorgeous!  While most folks rip these fine shrubs out and call them weeds, I cherish them and leave them wherever they wish to grow.  The bushes have no thorns like roses, do not spread like wisteria or cause rashes like the sumac.  So...what is not to love?

  For as long as I can remember, this bush has been tied to the family in one way or another.  Like most farm families, we made use of just about anything and everything. (This is a trait that is hard to unlearn as I still hate wasting anything and have been known to keep a few things that others deem as trash.)  The American Beautyberry was encouraged to grow in the woods around the farm.  Both the chickens and the hogs loved to munch the berries.  It was a funny sight to see the fat hens jumping up to pluck the berries from the stems.  Sometimes, one feisty hen would grab an entire limb thinking she had hit the mother lode of berries.  She would drop to the ground and let go of the branch to munch the berries.  The springy limb would shoot upwards all the while berries were showering in a great arch.  All of the other hens would come running to share in the wealth.  There would be a mass feeding frenzy for a few moments.

  The stalks of berries were also cut for decorations for our local Halloween Carnival/Fall Festival.  Pop usually was in charge of these fine events at the local school.  Each year just before the even was to start, we would drive around picking Ditch Daisies and Beautyberries.  What fine arrangements these made in galvanized buckets!  The bright yellow daisies and striking purple berries added a definite flair to the party!   All of this reminiscing makes me want to go scouring the countryside for Ditch Daisies and Beautyberries!  I just need to get a few old tin buckets!