Basking in the Sun

   After another cold night, more firewood was needed.  The old wood-burning stoves can put out lots of heat but only if you constantly feed them their favorite food...wood.  I was happy that what I had hauled in last night did carry me through the cold morning.  While our "cold" may not seem like much to others, it does seem bitterly cold to us down here in the Deep South.  We are so accustomed to winter being more like a late fall than anything else that when the temperature does drop into the 20s, we are COLD!  Like I said, though, I had enough wood to see me through until almost 9am.  Then, it was out to cut more wood.  This is all working out well since it cleans the yard.  After the last few tropical systems blew through, there are enough stacks of logs needing cut to see us through the entire winter.  So...out to the stacks, I went.

  At one point, I stopped to stare at the Bay.  The sun was out beaming with brilliance making me want to be on the pier instead of cutting firewood.  Pier??  What is that on the pier??  Down toward the outer end of the pier was a dark blob.  From the distance, I could not make out any distinguishing marks to tell if this was a bird, an otter or just some debris that blew onto the planks.  There was only one thing to do.  Time to take a break, grab the camera and stroll down the hill.

  With the first step on the pier, my mystery blob came to life!  A long neck stretched up and wings flared out.  Ahh, Gus, the brown pelican was basking in the warm sunshine!  He had his head tucked beneath his wing when I first noticed him so there was no way of telling just who was there!  Ole Gus was probably just like me.  We want to be warm!  At least, I have the Little Bayou House and the cast iron stoves to keep me warm at night.  Gus sits on the pier with the north wind making things miserable.  Thinking of this, I eased back off the pier and let Ole Gus bask in the sunshine undisturbed.