Sign of the Times!

The weather on the Bayou has been beautiful for the past few days. Old Man Winter must be on vacation somewhere up in the mountains as here the temperatures hover between just above freezing at night to a nice balmy sixty degrees during the daytime hours. For me, this is the perfect weather to get the gardens in order. My seed order is in the mail and I am looking forward to a nice, large package to be delivered here within the next couple of weeks. Garden time! I know that I am most likely pushing it with planting so early but the seeds are to be sown in the hotbed and that should most likely keep them from freezing. There is just one problem with this warm spell..gnats! Those lovely "No-see-ums" that feast upon any exposed skin and have an affinity for the eyes, nose and mouth! Still wearing the long-sleeved sweatshirts, I am not worried about the bites..it is that aggravating cloud of bugs that irritate the eyes, that gets to me! Just when I get my hands nice and dirty or when I am scooping cow poop into the garden, one of those boogers will get in my eye! Now that is just the most devious thing a bug could possibly do! Bite me..don't aggravate me!

Today, however, I smelled smoke as I was raking more of the leaves from the garden area. I sniffed the air..well, that could be the leftover remnants of my warming fire from this morning. I sniffed again. The wind should be blowing the smoke away from me if it was from my fireplace! I walked around the side of the house to explore the source of the smoke. Ahhh..yep! Just as I thought! In the middle of my brother's yard, a small cast iron stove happily chugged out the smoke. If anyone had seen this, they would have surely wondered just why he had the fireplace out in the middle of the yard..but I am "in the know"! This was not a warming fire..this was a smudge! This was a gnat-killer! One thing people that live on the Bayou and surrounding areas know is that gnats do not like smoke! Anyone who has lived in these parts for a goodly number of years knows about smudges. These smudges are not to be confused with smudge pots that are use in citrus orchards to prevent the fruit from freezing..smudges are not at all hot enough to do that! A smudge is a small, slow-burning fire that is started most like any other fire but has some fuel added to make it smoke profusely. Most folks around here, simply grab a handful of green grass, weeds or leaves and toss on the fire. The soft green leaves do not burn because of the water content in them. They smoke...A LOT! The smoke from my brother's smudge quickly filled not only his yard but mine as well. The gnats that were attacking me decided that enough was enough and they flew for parts unknown. I was able to finish my gardening chores in peace!