Its Always A Good Day To Save A Life!

  Today was an all around good day here on the Bayou.  I was up long before dawn and managed to get the daily chores knocked out before the others were out of bed.  Then, just after daybreak, Mark and I headed to the pier.  We wanted to get in a little fishing early in the day.  Well, that morning fishing spread into an almost all day affair!  The fish were biting so we were not leaving!  Whenever we can get enough, we share the cleaned fish with a lot of the elderly folks in the neighborhood.  We have done this for years and have no plans to stop any time soon.  The morning's fishing went smoothly but during late afternoon things went a bit haywire. 

  I had just returned to the pier from the Little Bayou House, when I got the surprise of the day. While Mark was on the phone with Darling Daughter, Elizabeth, a seagull dove down next to the pier to retrieve a discarded bait.  When the bird tried to fly back up, it became quite entangled in my fishing line.  The more the poor bird struggled, the more it became tangled.  There was only one thing to do. I gently reeled the bird closer to the pier and reached down to grab it.  Ok, so those beautiful birds are a bit feisty!  Being terrified of the monster that had entrapped it, the seagull did the one thing that came natural.  It tried to peck me.  I managed to get the bird on the pier and Mark used a bit of quick thinking to come to my rescue.  He placed the small minnow net over the bird's head!  This allowed me to work on the bird without getting ripped to pieces by that sharp beak.  

  At first, the seagull was terrified but it settled down as soon as it realized that I was trying to help it.  I flipped the bird this way and that as I untangled the mess of line.  It took only a few moments before I had my new friend free from a certain death.  That sweet bird would live to see another day!

  I learned several things from this experience.  One..seagulls weigh practically nothing and two..birds do recognize kindness when it is offered.  This poor bird had already been through the mill.  I noticed when unwrapping the line that somehow, the bird had previously been injured.  Although it was completely healed, the bird was missing a foot.  Poor thing!  

  I am thankful for the fish we caught today.  I am thankful that we are able to share our bounty.  I am thankful that the bird was freed.  AND  I am thankful that while I was untangling the bird, no fish tried to take the bait that was on the end of that line!  Had I gotten a bite on the line that was tangled about the bird, the poor seagull would have been mangled.  But all is well that ends well and overall it was a grand day on the Bayou!

Happy Birthday, Mark!