Hoodies, Golden Moments and Memories!

   A few mornings ago, I awoke to find the room awash in a golden glow.  That told me that the sunrise was to be spectacular.  Even though, I had little emotional energy left to even think of sunrises, sunsets or anything else on the Bayou, instinct made me stumble out to the pier.  Golden....beautiful golden moments...those are the times that life hands you when you least expect.

  That morning, the waters of the Bay were pushed far from the shore by the north winds of overnight.  The mudflats were busied by the raccoons and shorebirds foraging for breakfast but I was more interested in three little beings paddling in the shallows.  The hoodies were back!  Hooded mergansers hold a special place in my heart.  They are not seen here except during the winter months and, even then, they are here for only few weeks.  I try to enjoy them as much as possible while the opportunity lasts.

  One of my early recollections of the hoodies involved my grandmother.  She loved feeding all the birds even the waterfowl.  Come wintertime, she would carefully put birdseed in the long, tray-like feeder under the south-facing window and then fill a pie tin with bread crumbs, corn and sometimes barley.  Carefully, she would traipse down to the pier my granddad had built.  The goodies would be scattered on the lower part of the lawn for the ducks to enjoy.  If, Pop and Granddad were trying to do a little duck hunting near the mouth of the Bayou, she would bang that pie tin and give a call of "Here, duck, duck, duck!"  Yep, those menfolk gave up the hunt rather quickly since they knew that "Hattie" was not approving of their antics!  Plus, all of the ducks within earshot would flock to their free meal.  Of course, the fish-eating mergansers never came to feast upon the grains but the banging on the tin would send them skittering across the water!

  It is funny how a simple things like the hoodies' presence can bring back a flood of memories.  Golden moments abound!  Life is good. 

  

Rain Again? It Is All Good.

   For a while now, our weather has been a bit unusual.  Most years, late summer sees us in a drought which is no fun whatsoever for the garden.   This year, however, the total rainfall has been unreal.  The area usually sees about 65 inches during an average year but we surpassed that at the half year mark....and are still counting.  While this creates problems for folks in low-lying areas, we are safe from rainfall flooding.  It simply runs off into the Bayou or Bay.  That is the advantage of living on a hill.  Oh, it is raining as I write this...imagine that.  It seems as if each day starts with dark, threatening clouds overhead.  Is it strange that I love this weather?  All too soon, it may turn around to where we are all wishing for rain. 

  This morning, the sun struggled to peep through the heavy clouds.  As it did, a soft golden glow spread out over the waters near the pier.  Sitting back, I breathed in the fresh morning air and gave thanks that I am able to live where I do....rains and all.  I am sort of isolated from the woes of the world.  Morning has broken.  Rejoice and be happy in it.  Appreciate what you are handed.

Going for the Gold

  If you are lucky enough to be on a pier at sunrise (or sometimes sunset), the view is remarkable.  Not only is the the horizon lit with a kaleidoscope of colors, the water is shimmering with a billion lights.  Occasionally, the sun will set a glow about the entire area and leave a person in awe of the golden wonder.  It is times like this that make me never want to live any place except the Bayou. This morning was just such a glorious start of the day.  Otters were playing near the marsh, ospreys were diving for mullet and a dozen or so brown pelicans dive-bombed in the menhaden.  If folks cannot find peace in such an environment, they really do not wish to do so.  

  For the past six months or so, things have been flip-flopped around so much in this old world that I have decided to reevaluate my life. I have become bogged down trying to please everyone but myself so it was time to do something about it. Several things came  to mind. 

1.  I am getting old!  That does not bother me in the least when faced with the alternative of NOT getting old.  I am fine with it but it does make me realize that I  have got to stop fretting over things that do not amount to a hill of beans.  Answer...Deal with it or let it go.  

2.  I find myself pondering over things from the past or things of the future. This is not good as it is time consuming.  Answer...Live more in the moment.

3.  Life seems to be filled with people and their drama.  For the longest time, I felt it necessary to commiserate with anyone who felt the need to unload their problems on my shoulders.  Answer...Drop those who seek out turmoil and surround myself with happy folks and folks who want me to be happy.  (I have already begun this one!)

4.  After many years, life begins to seem drab and lackluster.  Answer..Fill life with color. Find beauty in EVERYTHING.  Look for those golden moments!  Enjoy the golden glow that comes at sunrise and carry it with me all day.  

  After the golden glow left the Bayou for the morning, Mark and I fished for a while and just enjoyed the relaxing time before the busy day started.  Life is good but it is also good to change the outlook sometimes.  Seek those golden moments, folks.  They are fleeting so enjoy them while you can.




 

The Birth Certificates

  My organizational skills are shy to none and leaning to the none side more than anything. I get this from Mom.  It was drilled into her head (as it was mine) to save things "because you might need them one day". While this thought may be true to some extent, it sure makes for a lot of clutter.  Mom had a filing system that rivaled....none.  She would file recipes in with receipts because that was where they landed.  In the midst of that, one could often find poems, photographs and birth certificates.  It all made sense to her so that was all that mattered.  The rest of us were at a loss to find anything of importance in her filing system.   I, on the other hand, do not file things at all.  They are here somewhere and, usually, I can go right to them...unless someone else has decided the important papers should not be stashed in the soup tureen or keys under the clock and has moved the items to a more logical place.  Perhaps it is their logic...just not mine.  Important papers should be kept in the soup tureen since it is never used for soup.  Duh!

  Well, today, I needed those important papers called birth certificates.  I went to the "soup tureen" and, lo and behold, it was empty!  EMPTY, I tell you!  Nary a paper could be found in there...only a pair of baby shoes were hidden in the bowl. (Yeah, those really were in there but I do not know why.)  So, the search was on for the illusive papers.  I checked all the logical places such as the family Bible, under the mantel clock, in the top drawer of the buffet and in the last book I read but I found no birth certificates.  While I knew the goofy things were in none of those places, I actually did look there!  I did, however, recall that the papers needed were tied in a neat bundle along with things like the land deed, marriage certificate and baptismal records.  They all were "filed" together in the huge world of "Nowhere Land".

  Finally, I had a thought and went straight to the bundle exactly where it should have been.  I guess I just had to make for an interesting day as I hunted the house through and through.  Son was to make copies of the papers so he untied my neat bundle and started sorting the all important papers.   Birth certificate..check!  Marriage license..check! (I was on a roll here!)  Hog registration..check???  Hog registration?  We do not have hogs!
  

 Sure enough, I had followed Mom's method to a T!  In with our papers was an envelope containing hog registration papers dated 1949.  Pop had registered a litter of baby pigs in 1949!  There was a certificate for Ester Jean I, Ester Jean II and Pride! These were the three surviving piglets born to Pet Boy and Lady Ester III.  Birth certificates (more or less) for a litter of piglets owned by Pop way back in the day.  Now that was an envelope containing some important papers if I ever saw any! Wow!  Son looked at me in disbelief.  I guess I really should not have packed those with the family papers, huh?  At least I knew where the papers were and they were not in the soup tureen!  Now, I wonder why baby shoes are in the tureen???

The Golden Tree

  The rain gauge is overflowing so there is no telling just how much precipitation we received in the past few days but it was a lot.  The gauge holds six inches and was filled far before the last round of thunderstorms rolled through the area.  All of this rain has left the place a soggy mess.  It even smells soggy if there is such a thing.  The odor emanates from the mounds of now downed leaves that fill every nook and cranny of the yard.  The high winds even plastered them to the sides of the Little Bayou House giving it a rather "woodsy" appearance. Hopefully, when those dry and fall to the ground, they will not have stained the siding.  As it sits, the house looks camouflaged.

  While every leaf has fallen from most deciduous trees in the yard, one stands proudly as it clings to its glorious color.  A tall hickory tree that stands next to the lane is filled with the brightest gold leaves and almost looks gaudy compared to the bare twigs to those next to it.  This hickory must have turned late to have held onto its leaves through the nigh on tropical storm force winds, torrential rains and even hail that have been wreaking havoc on the Bayou.  

  While the days have been gray and gloomy, this hickory tree seems bound and determined to brighten the day.  It has succeeded....it brightened mine when I looked up to see it gorgeous color!

Golden Moments

  It may seem to be a strange habit to some folks, but I search for all of the golden moments that I can find.  There are precious times in each day.  It is my goal to find and savor the golden moments that occur. Here lately, it seems that we are all too wound up in our lives to even sit back and reflect on just how good things are.  Not me.  I try to open my day each morning being thankful that I am alive and doing well.  Likewise, the day's end is met appreciating what I was given during the day.  This is a way of understanding that good times/bad times are all fleeting and to find a bit of happiness anywhere is a true blessing.  I find mine here on the Bayou.  Moments that make you appreciate life are what I call the golden moments.  I find a good many of these occurrences at sunrise.  It seems that there is a certain serenity at that time of day.  

  We have had very few days in the past month that I was able to get out to the pier to watch the sun rise above the pines or, for that matter, make an appearance at all.  Rainy days seemed to have been the norm so far for this winter.  Yet, there was one morning that was deemed most perfect.  It was full of those golden moments.  As matter of fact, the entire morning was golden.

  I arose before dawn and headed out to the pier. Without Ms. Ez, the old Bayou Dog, there to guide me, I had to tread carefully.  She would always nudge me away from slippery slopes so I would not fall.  Boy, I miss that dog!  Still, I did make it to the pier in time to watch the sun peep out of a bit of fog.  As it did, the entire Bayou and Bay were filled with a golden wash.  It was gorgeous!

  As I sat there staring out at the different waterfowl as they tried to find breakfast, I thought how that old dog would have loved this.  My golden moment was not just the sunrise and beauty around me but thoughts of my departed friend.  Ms. Ez was a golden moment.  Boy, I miss her.