Chains of Time

  Occasionally, there are unexplained things that are worth pondering.  Why the world spins around endlessly, how many grains of sand make up the beach and is progress always for the good of things...these are never satisfactorily answered even though thousands have tried.  Then, there are things that require no explanation.  They are just there.  They exist for no apparent reason.  They merely are conundrums that have no ready answer.  They are accepted and then forgotten.

  One of these enigmas sits at the base of the pier.  It is there, has been for as long as I can remember and, to this day, remains unexplained.  A huge chain lies buried in the mud.  It is attached steadfastly to some unseen object from years past.  At some point, it obviously was decidedly important but now it merely rusts with the salt water washing over it.  It is just there.  Yes, I have tugged on it.  I have pried it with the boat hook and even tried to cajole Son into hoisting it up from the mud. He was having no part of it.  I do not blame him.

  Since the folks that put in the pier posts had such a difficult time some ten years ago, I am assuming this chain may have belonged to them. That is the only logical explanation, if we need one.  Personally, I prefer (as with all weird things of the Bayou) to fantasize that this chain may have actually been on some wayward pirate ship that came into the Bay so many years ago.  The pirates needed to bury their treasure (as we all definitely know they did!) and my Bayou was deemed to be the perfect spot.  While here, the weather took a turn for the worse and a rogue storm sank the schooner and all within...lock, stock and barrel.  Yep, the pirates were stranded!  Eventually, they commandeered another ship and sailed away claiming that the Bayou was "haunted".  Now, hundreds of years later, all that remains is the heavy chain that held their anchor and that anchor lies deep beneath the mud never to be seen again!  

  Ok...active imagination at work there! But! The chain could make for a nice tale to tell visitors to the Bayou!  Hmmm?  SON!!!!  I NEED that chain!