A Tad Chilly!

With the nation in the midst of a deep freeze, I worried about the effect of the cold on our little piece of paradise.  Yep, that cold reached all the way down here to the Deep South.  All night, I was up and down checking the water pipes, stoking the fires and drinking coffee.  (Coffee is mandatory if you have to stay awake all night!)  Even though Michael said he would stay awake and take care of things, I still felt the need to hop out of bed every hour to check things.  We watched as the temperature did a steady decline.  By four o'clock in the morning, the thermometer read twenty degrees.  For a lot of folks that have had to endure far worse, our temperatures would have felt almost balmy but for us this was frigid!  It rarely gets this cold down on the Bayou.  A bit later, I told Son to go to bed.  I could take care of things for the next few hours.  Surely this was as cold as it was going to get and I would not have to be vigilant much longer.

Well, that was just wishful thinking!  At six o'clock, the temperature dropped another three degrees.  We now sat at seventeen degrees!  Brrrr!  That was enough!  That was enough to send me to the pier!  I pulled on my flannel-lined jeans and heavy jacket.  Grabbing the camera, I looked at Ms. Ez.  I could tell by those big, sad eyes that she was not going anywhere!  She was not leaving her warm bed to go stare at a sunrise.  I headed out the door.

The board path was slippery with frost.  Each step took determination and some surefooted steps to keep from sliding.  The pier was worse.  A thick layer of frost coated the entire length of the pier.  It would have been sheer stupidity to even attempt that trek so I stayed near the shoreline.  I had to be satisfied with watching the sun rise over the marsh.  The Bayou was naught but a layer of ice.  The north wind had pushed most of the water out into the Gulf leaving behind just a few inches.  The frozen salt water was a rare occurrence.  Very seldom does it get cold enough to freeze the Bayou.  All I could think about was my poor critter friends!

There is something so refreshing, so invigorating about being outside before dawn even if it is freezing!  I know most of you are feeling a lot colder air than that here on the Bayou so my warmest thoughts are with you.  Stay warm, folks, stay warm!