Where Did All The Water Go?

   It is a well-known fact that a strong north wind can drive the water lower than usual in the Bay.  Sometimes during the winter months, our pier sits "high and dry" with nary a puddle beneath it.  Mud...that stinky, sloppy mud...surrounds everything and anything that was hidden by the dark waters is evident.  Tree limbs, derelict crab pots, even old boat parts are left visible once the tide is extremely low.  I have lived near this Bayou my entire life and have witnessed that old wind drive the water sometimes a good hundred feet from the pier's end.  The water returns with the next high tide if the winds have subsided but that lack of water does indeed put a kink in any fishing plans!  

  Saturday morning, the tide was at its low at around 7:30 in the morning.  We had an incoming cold front so the winds were out of the north and were sustained around 18mph.  Yes, the tide was low...really low!  Mark actually took pictures and made the remark that it was "the lowest I have ever seen!"  I checked and had to agree.  That water was way out there!  It was interesting to see but, since I had no plans of fishing, the phenomenon soon flitted from the brain.  There was no use in pondering low tide....until a few hours later....those few hours made a bigger impact.

  Around noon, Mark made a trip to deliver a pot of beef stew to a sweet old lady.  While he was gone, I glanced out the window and was taken aback.  Where did all the water go?  It was low tide before but this was getting ridiculous!  There was absolutely NO water!  I mean NOOO water at all!  I hurriedly made my way to the end of the pier to check this further.  There literally was no water!  The entire part of the Bay known as Magnolia Bend" (our part!) was nothing but mudflats!  I peered across to the air base...there...there was a wee bit of water in the industrial channel that runs parallel to the opposite shoreline.  That water seemed to be nigh on a mile away!  In fact, if you look closely at the photos that I took, you will see a glistening streak on the far shore.  THAT is the only water in our whole Magnolia Bend area.  The rest of what is seen is mud...purely mud.

  As I sat there pondering the lack of water, I had to giggle because, just last week, Mark made the comment that he would like to extend our pier so we would be in "deeper water".  Yeah, right!  I guess a mile long pier would be fine just so we can fish in that channel so very far away!  I am thinking he would be better off just jumping in that little skiff and puttering over there.   North winds and low tides are always going to be a thing around here but we just have to take it as it comes.  (I have to admit that I much prefer this type tide over the tidal surge that comes with a hurricane.  This one leaves no messy debris piled in the yard!)

Clam Up About the Cold Weather!

  Ok, so this "ice age" has been lingering on just about long enough now.  It is time for it to move back to the Arctic where it belongs.  The Deep South has better things to do than slip and slide on thin sheets of ice and bundle up against these bone-chilling temperatures!  Four hundred years of this is overdoing it a bit.  Ok, ok....so it has only been four days but we Southerners are ill-equipped for any temperatures below 30 degrees.  Anything lower and we go into a state of shock.  I mean, come on now, our flipflops and t-shirts are gathering mold from lack of use here.  To tell the truth, most of us do not own an actual coat so a hoodie has to suffice.  Our shoe racks contain no boots other than an occasional pair of "shrimp" boots which are basically white rubber rain boots.  They are designed to keep the feet dry and cool but not protect against cold.  A lot of us do not even have central heating systems as they are not needed during most winters.  Right about now, I almost wish we did as it is a tad cold going out at daybreak to fetch another armload of firewood.  

 The good folks of the Deep South are not the only ones feeling the cold this year.  From our vantage point of the pier, Mark and I noticed that a good many clams were exposed by the low tides.  While this is not an unusual occurrence with the extreme low tides each winter, the position of the clams was troubling.  Most of the shells were opened.  During most low tides when there are mudflats for long stretches, the clams stay tightly closed to protect themselves.  Being exposed to predators is bad enough but throw in that frigid air and things get a mite iffy for the clams. Clams cannot really take to deeper, warmer water like fish and crustaceans.  They sit steadfast in the mud and hope for the best.  Tightly closed, the clams can survive a good 24 or more hours of being out of the water.  They seal themselves into their own little "tide pool" inside the shell and wait for the tide to roll in again.  But...no water and temperatures in the 20s for four days is enough to kill the clams in spite of their best efforts.

  While the death of the clams is saddening, their demise has been a blessing to other critters.  Opening a clam is a tough task for any critter other than the otters but with the cold weather killing the clams and making them spontaneously open, birds and smaller critters are feasting! This is helping them make it through this dire situation. I guess there is a reason for everything.