Today warmed enough for me to work the gardens a bit. This was a long time coming since the combination of rain and cold is not exactly to my liking when it comes to being outside. I have a tendency to hole up inside the Little Bayou House and hover around the old cast-iron stove or head to the kitchen to bake. Son is the recipient of all of those baked goods so he, too, was happy for me to be outside. After everything in the greenhouse received a nice dousing of water from the rain barrel and the cabbages, spinach and broccoli were weeded, my thoughts turned to the pier...as usual.
Earlier, I had noticed some baby otters playing near the boat cut and a few hooded mergansers out by the end of the pier. I would try to find the otters and, then, I would try to get a few photographs of the hoodies. Perhaps SOMETHING of interest could be found. Slipping silently down the pier planks, I could hear the tiny squeaks of baby otters but never got to see them. Mama Otter had them well hidden under the marsh mats. Their playtime in the cold water was over and it was time for them to snuggle down in the den again. Neither did I find the mergansers. They had skittered across to the other side of the Bayou far out of reach of the camera lens. Well, now! That was boring!
I did find the remnants of the otters' meal. Several mollusk shells were on the mudflats. These had been pried loose from the clusters at the base of the marsh clumps and opened with the skillful "hands" of Mama Otter. She had demonstrated the method to her little ones and let them have their first taste of the delightful shellfish. This was a life lesson that would help the little otters survive.
As I was about to leave the pier, the winds shifted from the southeast. My warm day had ended as the winds picked up the chill from the water and made it highly uncomfortable to be outside. I am getting old. This never used to bother me. Now it does. Time to head back and stoke the fires for the evening. Brrr!
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