Water Weaving

  The Bayou saw a bit of bad weather this morning.  Starting about 5am and lasting most of the day, high winds, torrential rains, golf ball sized hail, heavy lightning and tornadoes ripped through the area.  Other neighborhoods have been devastated but here on the Bayou, things are good.  We are fortunate enough to live on a high hill above the Bayou which helps tremendously with the flooding in spite of over 7 inches of rain.  Just minutes away from us, cars are underwater, houses are flooded and others were struck by fierce lightning.  This storm also made a mess of the Bayou and surrounding waters in the Bay.  There was a lot of runoff from nearby construction sites.  Once again, red clay muddied the waters making it inhospitable to many of the creatures that call the Bayou home.   All I can say is "it was quite a day"!  

  During one lull in the storms, I raced down the hillside to check the small skiff.  As of late, the bilge pump does its job well but never wants to stop.  It just keeps on pumping!  The tide was extremely high and with the gale force winds, waves had pushed all sorts of debris up in the marsh.  It never ceases to amaze me how people can throw so much trash in the water.  While trying to scoop out some of the used water bottles,  I noticed that small bits of marsh grass were also floating on the surface.  These are remnants left behind when the nutria rats gnaw the root pads.  Since the nutria rats do not eat the grass itself, it goes to waste.  It will float around until it finally rots and makes a mulch to nurture the remaining grass.  Today, however, it was the floating stuff that caught my eye.  Call it the artist in me but I could actually see a design forming in the bits and pieces.  The motion of the waves was swirling the grass bits into a tightly woven mat.  In weaving with dried material, it is customary to soak the reeds, willow branches and cane to make it more pliable but I have never heard of "Water Weaving" before!! Too bad these mats would not hold together once they were removed from the water.  They could be an interesting piece to have on a deck.  "Why, thank you for complimenting my deck mat...it was made by the Water Sprites using a technique called Water Weaving!"  heehee!