Note to self...WEAR SHOES! Nah, never mind....

  I have a terrible habit of not wearing shoes.  I will wander about the hillside barefooted as if nothing will ever happen to make me regret the lack of footwear.  When I do put something on my feet, most likely it is only a pair of leather moccasins but at least those provide some bit of protection.  Even in the dead of winter, those moccasins are the shoe of choice but, as I stated, I do have a bad habit of trotting around sans shoes.  So far, I have been fortunate.  Other than a few nail punctures, some thorns and maybe a splinter or two, nothing terrible has happened. It is waiting, though, I am sure.  Perhaps now that I mentioned it, tomorrow will be the day.  It was almost "that day" earlier this week.

  The wind was blowing a gale on one particular day this past week so I decided to go to the pier and check the skiff.  The moorings would hold I am sure but it boiled down to that old "better safe than sorry" mentality. The storm system was supposed to dump a bunch of rain on us but, so far, nary a drop had hit the Bayou.  Of course, I was my usual barefooted self but was keeping a keen eye on where I placed my feet.  I make this hike dozens of times a week and could probably do it blindfolded.  Still, this is one time that I was happy to be aware of my surroundings. Trouble was hiding on one of the pier boards.

  That trouble was in the form of a wasp.  A Yellow Jacket had nestled down between the boards as an attempt to get alee of the wind.  Had I not seen this wasp, my foot would have received a nasty sting!  Instead, I was able to study said wasp without any unfortunate events.  The Yellow Jacket stayed put between the boards for quite some time.  There, it was protected from the wind but was also able to soak up the warm sunshine.  Smart critter.  I am sure that some day down the line, I may regret the fact that I bypassed the sure chance at eliminating this wasp but I figured that there was no harm done.  My feet were still sting-free as I headed back to the Little Bayou House.  Shoes...I shudder to think of how my feet would react to wearing something like that every day!  Now, where are my moccasins?