You hear a lot about the crazy weather, as of late. While it appears that the whole world has been having its share of weird weather related occurrences, it has really has not changed. Weather has always happened. What changed is that we are now bombarded with up-to-the-minute "news" about everything. In other words, we have media overload. Years back, weather happened everywhere on this old globe but there was not this instantaneous barrage of sensational news headlines to keep us "informed" or rather over informed. I am not sure it is going to make my day any different if I hear of a rainstorm halfway around the world just as it will not be of importance to anyone on a different continent that the Bayou had an ice storm. Media overload does nothing but create panic and raises the stress levels. It is not needed.
Still...closer to home...as matter of fact...IN my home, it appears that we have had two seasons in one day! (Now isn't that of the utmost importance?) I was in the kitchen baking up a batch of Bayou Cheesy Crackers when I noticed the view outside of the kitchen window. Ahh, lovely! It was nice to see the deep green leaves of the citrus trees as they are finally looking better after our winter. Then there were the bright green leaves and red blooms of the Buckeye tree! Those blooms looked fiery in the bright sunshine! Springtime was definitely in full swing! How lovely! My eyes turned to the other window in the kitchen. Uh, oh! The view from that window appeared to be in the dead of winter! How can that be? The windows are only about two feet apart yet the views were in such contrast! The left window showed a happy springtime view where the right one showed browns and grays of winter.
Actually, the left window overlooks a part of the yard that was quite dismal just a few weeks ago, the citrus trees had taken a beating but with a lot of trimming and hard work, they are now making a comeback. The yard is alive again...well, some of it. The right window overlooks the small Frog Pond backed by the canebrake. The cane did not fare as well as the other plants and trees. It is still brown and quite dead looking. The 500+ canes will need to be cut back and ground for mulch. Hopefully, new shoots will sprout from the rootstock. The cutting is something that should have been done weeks ago but other things got in the way. Now, I hate to do it. Several birds have nested in the dead canes and small critters have dens among the roots. All are raising their young and I do not have the heart to disturb that. The canebrake will have to wait for a more opportune time to be thinned.
Still, I found the contrast interesting...on the left, the life only spring can bring and on the right, the death left behind by an unusual ice storm. Perhaps, I am the only one to view things in this skewed way but, in all fairness, I was not feeling the best today so maybe it is just the brain that is skewed and not the view. Oh, and yes, I do have hardware cloth on the window (and soon the others). There are a few of the critters that live around here that stop at nothing to raid a kitchen. Mere window screens are no match for them!
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