Bits of Brightness Among the Drear!

Drip..drip..drip...This has been the constant sound on the rooftop for the past number of days.  Sometimes rain but mostly just heavy, heavy fog.  More oft than not, we are completely fog-bound at night with the days not much better.  It is so thick that you can feel the closeness..the tightness of the air.  Through all of this, the Little Bayou House has become quite damp inside.  The old, hardwood flooring in the living room is sticky with nothing other than moisture from the fog.  Poor Ms. Ez snuggles in a tight ball.  She feels the dankness and is not happy.  Even Ms. Put, the old cat, spends more time inside now.  She seeks shelter in Michael's room upstairs.  And the greyness lingers on... Ms. Ez and I did venture out in the bleakness early this afternoon.  I thought that perhaps the fog might lift a bit and I was going to be ready to catch even the tiniest bit of sunshine.  It did not happen!  She and I softly padded about the hillside, our footsteps muffled by the sogginess of the ground.  Every branch was laden with droplets, every leaf coated with water.  Once on the pier, I was engulfed by a stifling silence.  This was one of the few times that I could not see the opposite shore.  Whiteness..total whiteness blocked any view.  Three small mergansers shuffled a bit under the pier.  They were not even anxious to leave their shelter.

Coming back up the hill, I was shivering with the cold.  The fog seemed to penetrate the heavy jacket that I wore.  This was not for me!  Ms. Ez and I would hope for a better walk tomorrow!  Right inside the gate of the rose garden, I noticed a tiny bit of brightness!  A single wood violet dared to bloom in all of this drear!  As I stooped to photograph the brave violet, I noticed that the winter-blooming camellia was laden with the droplets of fog!  Beautiful!  This small shrub actually belongs to my cousin.  I had dug up one several years ago from her folk's old place.  I had no idea that it would do so well in the large pot but today, it is full of the huge blooms!  I snapped a few photographs of it.  I had plans to send these to her just to let her know that her camellia is thriving!  Ahh..even the geranium was forcing a few blooms!  This was blooming a bit early but I was happy to see some bit of brightness in the otherwise gloom!  So what if the weather was not participating..the plants were!

Ms. Ez huddled closer to me almost knocking me flat on my face!  She was ready to get back to her warm bed!  My photographing of the flowers was not to her interest and she was not going to tolerate me staring at a plant and ignoring her!  Ok..ok..inside we shall go!  She and I both welcomed a "warm-me-up"...mine in the form of a mug of ginger tea and hers being a warmed bowl of dog food!  Yep...I am just that swayed by a dog!  She deserved it, though, for letting me get my pictures!