All is Well

   How the Little Bayou House is situated, it is backed by a rather shabbily wooded area.  By shabbily, I am referring to the fact that the trees have been hurricane ravaged so much in the past years that there are mostly low-growing shrubs with very few tall "canopy" trees.  Probably on the whole of the back five acres, there may be a good fifty full sized trees.  The rest are thick bushes that only reach maybe twenty feet in height.  Through the midst of this, the tiny creek flows until it spills into the back part of the Bayou.  I leave the area wild and woolly simply to provide some shelter for the critters.  With everything around us sold and being developed, this is the only place where the critters can live free and happy.  I am good with it. There also is a lovely canebrake between the wooded area and the house.  This canebrake also provides shelter for critters.  You never know what you might find in there!

  With the woods and the canebrake being on the north side of the Little Bayou House, it is a welcome shelter for us, as well.  The dense growth of both shields us from the bitter north wind during winter.  It is there, that I can meander about without being chilled to the bone.  It is, also, there that I find my critter friends doing the same.  A good many will hunker down in the thickets to be protected from the icy winds.  

  It was on the hike this morning that I found the male Northern Cardinal in the canebrake.  His lovely wife was tucked in the midst of the brake but he was keeping watch from the edge.  Their soft chirps to each other called my attention to the male.  As I eased my way near the cane, the chirps took on a different tone as he told her to sit tight for possible danger approaches.  He never wavered from his post even though my path went directly below him.  Once he realized that I was not there to do harm, his chirps reverted back to the calming, soft whispers.  "It is all ok.  Stay put.  She will not hurt us.  All is well."  His ladylove stayed snug in her sheltered spot and he continued his watch just as I continued my way down the path. 

  I am glad the birds and other critters have a "safe place" from all of the craziness of this old world.  I am also glad that they realize I am a friend and not a predator.  The Little Bayou Kingdom is safe and sound.  All is well.