I like living where and how I do. For most folks, this life would probably seem hard compared to the standards of today's society. I do things "the old way". It suits me. I grow most of our food and can it for use during the winter months. We catch fish, shrimp and crabs to go along with the fruits and vegetables. The old cast iron wood stoves supply our heat during the winter and open windows cool the house during the summer. I am happy living on the Bayou. I would not fare well in the city. I get agitated with the hustle and bustle of things and love the quietude of the Bayou and woods. I love hearing the frogs and toads singing their nightly serenades, the owls calling back and forth from the tall pines and the mullet splashing in the calm waters. I love finding baby rabbits under the brush piles, large alligators sunning on the mudflats and even the raccoons raiding the muscadines. I like waking before dawn to watch the sun rise up over the pines and sitting on the pier in the evening to watch it set again. I like the smells of the Bayou..the magnolias, jasmine and wild honeysuckle, the orange blossoms and peach blossoms, the lemongrass as it wafts in the breeze and, yes, even the "low tide" smell that some find offensive. I just belong here.
I sat thinking about this, today, as I watched life in a different big, crowded "city". While working in the gardens, I moved a container that held bell pepper plants. Under the pot, in a space about one square foot, an entire city of critters had made their homes. In fact, even after some scampered to parts unknown, I counted six spiders, fourteen pill bugs, eleven snails, one centipede and about a dozen tiny ants. They were so crowded that the critters were literally crawling all over each other. The spiders were stalking the pill bugs, the ants were biting the snails, the centipede would have made short work of the spiders. Each seemed oblivious to the other's feelings which made me ponder if that is how it is in large human cities. I hope not. I'd like to think that we all can show kindness to everyone but, then again, I live in my own little world down here and do not have to deal with any hullabaloo from others. Yep, I like it...it suits me just fine.
