Collections...Photographs and Seeds

   One of the perks of wandering about the marshline at the break of day is that I get to see all sorts of wondrous things that most other folks miss.  This brings to mind that old adage "You snooze, you lose!"  While it probably does not amount to a hill of beans to others, it is highly important on my "to do" list.  In about the upper third of that list is "Find, view and photograph everything about the swamps, marshes and waters."  If nothing else, my kids and grandkids will have a photographic assemblage to pilfer through after I am dead and gone.  Not that any of the pictures will be worth a dime but, at least, they will be able to see the wonders of the place through my eyes and before it is fully ruined by "progress".

  This morning's bit of loveliness was a Saltmarsh Morning Glory.  This, like all other morning glories, blooms at dawn then usually withers before noon.  This, unlike most other morning glories, is salt water tolerant which gives it the name.   Here, it flourishes.  The vines trail upwards of ten feet, has arrowhead shaped leaves and five inch blooms.  It does best when allowed to climb wherever it wishes without curtailment.   The blooms are pinkish purple with a deeper color throat.  Bees adore the nectar bearing blooms.

  Finding the Saltmarsh Morning Glories in bloom brought a smile to my face as this is one of the flowers that Pop always used to point out when we would fish along the shores.  Several times, he said he wished he could get a few seeds to plant along the old fish pond in the side yard but we never dared to traipse in the marshes to retrieve any.  Now, I find myself doing just that.  The marsh, albeit full of cottonmouths and gators, is not near so scary as when I was a kid.  My handful of seeds might be a sweet addition to the small gardens.  (Yes, I did go there.)

The "Collector"

  It is strange how some folks "collect" things while others are "hoarders".  What is the difference?  Sure, the term hoarding has lately been removed from its original use of stockpiling needed supplies or money to just never throwing away anything but can't that be said about collecting as well?  Think about it.  There are those who amass huge "collections" of one type item and then there are the rest of us who have "stuff".  I have stuff.  Lots of stuff.  BUT!  The big difference between merely having a collection and having stuff is that I actually use my stuff.  Granted, most of the time, it is as props for the clue hunts we hold here on the Bayou each October but it is, nevertheless, used.  I have always been referred to as the "Collector of Weird and Wonderful Things".  I do not collect things like most folks.  I do not have beautifully displayed racks of commemorative spoons, neatly organized books of stamps or categorized pages of mounted coins.  I have stuff.  Just stuff.  I have shelves filled with dusty old books from eons ago, drawers filled with stiffly starched, handmade doilies and a buffet top filled with antique (lead-filled!) pewter that is unsafe to use.  I have an armless wooden statue of some warrior, a zoetrope and two dead foxes.  (Those are actually antique stoles but dead foxes just the same.)  Weird things.  Wonderful things.  Things that others see as clutter.  Things I like. What is the difference?  

  Collecting, or maybe hoarding, is also noticed in the critter world.  We have all heard of how male crows will steal shiny items to woo their ladylove and how mice will drag small bottles, knickknacks and jewelry into their nests but how about a crab?  This afternoon after I coerced the old dog, Mr. PJ, to take a hike with me, we wound up on the pier.  Here lately, Mr. PJ would rather nap inside instead of hiking but I figured fresh air would do him good.  While on the pier, I noticed that hundreds of fiddler crabs were in the process of protecting their nesting holes.  The males stood waving their large claws at any passerby.  Any "unmarried" males were threatened with bodily harm if they neared an occupied den.  There is nothing unusual about this.  Each summer sees the same thing.  Lots of fiddler crabs being crabby.

  However, one rather large male had another goal in mind. He was not protecting a ladylove and her brooding den.  Instead, he had collected a rather large prize and was busy defending his right to own it.  On the last high tide, a nasty looking tennis ball had washed ashore and the crab obviously thought it was quite grand.  He stood defiantly against all interlopers and waved that large claw violently.  This was HIS prize and his alone!  

  Whether this action was truly an act of love for the tennis ball or whether this was an unattached male who was bored, it made me think of folks who collect and those who hoard.  They are one and the same.  If the collection or "stuff" makes you happy...so be it.  It is no one's business but your own.  If a crab can be in love with a tennis ball...so be it.  It is no one's business but his own.

Just Keep Rolling Along

  Quite often, I have been dubbed the "Keeper of Weird and Wonderful Things".  The title says it all.  Not that this is any high honor or anything but merely a tag.  I am the one that usually winds up with all sorts of things that are "too good to throw away but with no apparent use".  Every now and again, I purge the place and vow to keep it empty.  It does not happen.  Invariably, someone will suddenly show up at my doorstep bearing all sorts of unique items that need a home...this home obviously.  As of late, I have taken to turning folks away with the excuse that the Little Bayou House is about to explode and spew thousand upon thousand of oddities and antiquities about the hillside.  This worked for a bit but then folks started getting sneaky.  Items would be left at the doorstep while the gift-bearing folks would scamper off into the sunset never to be seen again.

   Today, started with me gathering together the tools needed to bake cookies.  Darling Daughter and I had planned to go on a cookie baking binge!  As I grabbed the large mixing bowl, wooden spoons, sifter and rolling pin, a thought occurred to me.  I sure have a lot of rolling pins.  Why?  Who needs more than one?  It is not like you can use multiples of these things.  I looked at the one I chose for today's project.  This was Mom's.  In the drawer, there sat my grandmother's, great-grandmother's, aunt's and great-aunt's.  In the laundry room on a shelf sat three more rolling pins that I had acquired from who knows where.  Then in a drawer in the same room were three that had been found after Hurricane Katrina.  (Those are not used for food preparation, however, but are kept for crafting!)  Eleven rolling pins!  And this is not counting the miniature ones that I purchased for my granddaughter's visits!  Those came in a pack of three so....uh, oh...fourteen rolling pins! 

  Am I the only person that collects rolling pins even if it is an unintentional collection?  I quickly closed the drawers and threw a dish towel over the ones on the shelf.  There!  As my Great-aunt Ruth would have said "Out of sight, out of mind!"  What rolling pins?  I only see the one I am using today!  Yep, there could be some truth to that labeling thing.  Keeper of Weird and Wonderful Things...bwa-ha-ha....NEVER!.....I am just the Keeper of Things!