Slowly I turn...step by step...

  There used to be an old vaudeville act where one of the actors recounts an incident of revenge he took on an enemy.  A trigger phrase or word sets the narrator into a state of frenzy where instead of just telling the story, he acts on his foul deed. In mid attack, the storyteller comes to his senses only to fall back into the trance when hearing the word again. His poor listener is quite beat up by the time the skit ends.  While my tale today, has nothing to do with vaudeville, revenge or even trigger words, it is what came to mind as I watched a bird hunting its breakfast.

  Slowly, I turn...step by step...and I snatch another bull minnow from the shallows!  A little Green Heron was working the pools left on the mudflats.  The recent bout of north wind had pushed the tide far out from the shore and trapped hundreds of minnows.  This is a boon for the shorebirds as the trapped minnows are easy prey.  The Green Heron eased its way around the edge of the puddle of water.  These are "fishing" birds in the true sense as they actually use bait.  With each slow step, the heron would pick up its particle of fiddler crab, toss it a wee bit then take a very slooow step.  It foot would slowly rise out of the water, stay in mid air for a bit then ever so slowly sink back into the water.  Slowly I step...

  The bird show went on for quite some time as the little guy filled his belly with the fat minnows.  It was quite comical to watch the bird and once I made the connection with the old vaudeville sketch, I was even more amused. The Bayou is a great place to be entertained!