Every Thing Has A Purpose

   Late yesterday afternoon, I headed to the pier to check Son's progress on the repairs.  My gardening was finished for the day so I was ready to help him.  He assured me that I was not needed at the moment so, I sat and watched.  I think he was happier without me getting in the way.  While watching, I noticed jellyfish bobbing around in the water.  Oh, my!  I was sure glad I thought to bring the camera!  So, I plopped down on my stomach to see if I could get a decent picture.  It took a while because, as slow as they are, the jellies have a unique way of slowly sinking at the most inopportune time.  It took about twenty shots before I was satisfied.  Plus, dearie jelly decided to move out of sight.

  These are some of the jellies that have the long tentacles that will sting if touched.  We always were taught to call them sea nettles.  This was a small white one but usually we have pink ones mixed with the bunch.  Some of those are as large as a saucer with two feet of tentacles.  You really do not want to mess with those!  Catching one in the net is quite bothersome!

  As I watched the jellyfish, I pondered their use.  I know that they are a food source for things like sea turtles and that they also provide protection for certain small fish that are immune to the stings but what other purpose do they have?  That was research for the day! 

  I finally found a marine study website that talked of the jellyfish and their ability to help cleanse the waters.  Son had mentioned this a couple of years ago but I never thought much about it.  According to this study, the jellyfish appear to show promise in helping clear oil spills.  It was quite technical but, somehow, the jellyfish help the bacteria that eats the crude.  So, by encouraging an jellyfish "bloom", the residue that sinks after a spill could be cleared more rapidly. (I am assuming that I understood it correctly).  The same site stated that a bloom of jellyfish in shallow water seems to occur after heavy rains so it was thought that fresh water encourages a bloom.  (Yep, bloom.)

  So, with all of that new info in my brain, I feel quite certain that the lovely creature bobbing around under the pier was doing a grand job of clearing up our water...hopefully.  The bayou seems to be really muddy lately as you can tell by the photo.  Carry on, Jelly, carry on!

The Return of the Pelicans

  Watching the brown pelicans fly above the water, dive then take flight again is much like watching some well-choreographed dance.  While they are rather awkward on land due to the position of their legs, these birds are some of the most agile fliers ever to exist!  They can fly just inches above the water's surface, splash dive and immediately "water-walk" back into flight.  The water-walking is their method of getting up and out of the water before takeoff.  Brown pelicans sort of do a hop, skip and jump before lifting up from the water.  Their wide wingspan (of about 7 feet!) propels them along nicely but folded can enable a quick dive.  Speaking of their dives, contrary to what most folks think, they do not catch fish on the initial dive.  The splashdown is merely to confuse any fish and send them in a panic.  The bird actually sits and scoops up the disoriented fish in their huge bill.  If you ever watch the birds, you will notice that the bills can hold gallons of water (and hopefully fish).  After scooping, the pelican will point its bill skyward and allow the water to drain, all the while, keeping the fish inside.

  Early this afternoon, Son and I headed to the pier to adjust the moorings of the small skiff.  The stiff winds and heavy rains of late had pulled at the ropes and loosened the boat enough to cause problems.  While he was securing the ropes, I watched the pelicans.  Nine of the birds were diving in the shallow water.  They were scooping the six inch long mullet that were seeking deeper water.  The birds were definitely getting their bellies filled today!!

  It is good to see the waterfowl coming back into the Bay and Bayou after all of the troubles caused by the opening of the spillways this spring and summer.  Now, the area seems much more natural than earlier.   Plenty of fish have returned which has caused the birds to come home again.  Things are getting back to normal...good to see.  Let's hope the officials make better calls next time.

The Return of Winter Friends

  In a matter of a few days, the Bay went from being almost barren of waterfowl to being dotted with hundreds of birds.  While the "locals" are still here, newcomers are flying in quickly.  Our locals being the herons, pelicans, egrets, geese, terns and gulls  are joined by the cormorants, ducks (quite the variety!), loons and mergansers.  I love them all but have to admit being rather partial to the little mergansers...especially the Hooded Mergansers.  These birds are beautiful!  Although, the hoodies are a smallish bird compared to other ducks, they have lots of character!

  This evening, one hoodie stayed close to shore while all of the other birds were far out in the middle of the Bay.  At first, I wondered if the little one was ill or maybe hurt but those fears were soon laid to rest.  My little friend was merely feeding in the shallows.  With the north wind blowing the tide far out from the shoreline, minnows and shrimp that normally stay in the marsh and bayou cuts were an easy target for the hoodie.  He was happily filling his belly!

  Welcome back, my little, winter friends.  You are always welcome here on the Bayou.  I hope your stay is pleasant!

Through the Mist

  Years and years ago, I was often allowed to spend the night with my grandmother.  While this was probably more of a way to give Mom a break from an active youngster, I felt it was a special treat.  Being the youngest of five kids, I often felt left out of the "big kids" doings so I found this little outing quite exciting.  My scheduled sleepovers usually coincided with some movie that was being shown on TV.  This, too, was exciting as back on the farm, we had no TV.   It was on one of these sleepovers that I first experienced the musical "Brigadoon".  I was hooked from that moment which led to me being invited each time the movie was shown.  It became a ritual for Grandmother to put on the tea kettle, pull out the "fine" teacups and fix a plate of cookies to be enjoyed during our viewing.  This tradition carried on until I was a teenager and then my heart was broken by the passing of the dear lady.  I could not bring myself to even think of watching the movie for years and years.  Then, at some point, Mom asked me to watch it with her and, once again, the movie entranced me.  Later, my kids and I never missed a showing of the musical but, instead of milk tea and cookies, the kids wanted more "exciting" foodstuffs.  Sometimes we roasted hot dogs in the fireplace while other times, we had an indoor picnic.  The decision was theirs and, more oft than not, their grandmother (Mom) would join us for the fun.  I miss those days.  I cannot say that any current day movie has ever affected me as much as this one did.  Then again, I cannot say that any current day movies can possibly been deemed classics either.  

  This morning, memories of Brigadoon, the mystical city that appears of the mist every one hundred years, came back to me.  The time spent with Grandmother, Mom and my kids nearly brought tears to my eyes.   These memories were all due a heavy fog that had laid in overnight.  The thick mist blocked from view most of the other side of the Bay.  Only one small portion of what laid on the opposite shore could be seen and that vision was short lived.  The fog slowly blocked out the entire city.  The mystical, magical Brigadoon (in this case, Keesler Air Base) slipped from sight for the next one hundred years (or at least an hour).

  One of the best parts of living on the Bayou is that you never know what the new day will bring.  Things change with the drop of a hat and surprises abound.  Each day also brings with it the opportunity to reflect back on things from years ago.  The quietness allows the brain to wander where it may thus making each day, each memory worth a visit.  

How Soon Forgotten

  There was an "unheard of " weather phenomenon here in Biloxi this past week.  THERE WAS ICE ON BILOXI BACK BAY!!!  Yeah, right. Unheard of...some folks must never get out of their warm, cozy beds before the sun is well up above the horizon.  Ice on the Bay...pffft!  Like that has never happened before in history.  The local news folks had a heyday with this earth-shaking news.  Granted, it does not happen every year because, well face it, we are in the Deep South where things are a tad warmer but ice does occur and ice on the Bay does happen regularly.  People are just too wimpy to get out in the cold to see it.  The phenomenon that was making the news was captured by a weather camera and not a real live person and the quantity of ice amounted to little more than some crunchy particles near the marsh edge.  Still, ice on the Bay is fun, in a weird sort of way and even though the temperatures are not too bad, there was ice again this morning (but no one was excited this time!).

  Now, back in 1936, things were a bit more exciting.  Pop and my Uncle Jim, both, told stories of the time that the Bay froze.  Not just a little frosting along the edge but it froze almost all the way across.  THAT was unusual and cause for an uproar.  The fact that the weather was cold enough that year for so much ice to form was rare and, of course, these two guys had to have a story to go along with it.  When they got out of bed at daybreak to find so much ice, these two fellows got the bright idea to shove the old canoe out on the ice sheeting.  Being adventurous young men, they thought it would be great fun to skid across that ice. Sure enough, their shaky plan worked and the canoe slid along with ease.  A good  poke with a pole sent them scooting across the ice.  They were having a grand time when they spied the first fish.  It seems that the cold, icy water had stunned the fish enough that many were floating on or near the surface.  The two young men started breaking the ice and grabbing the fish with their bare hands.  The canoe filled quickly so they headed back to the house.  Once there, they hauled their catch to the house and proudly presented it to their mom (my grandmother).   She reprimanded them for bringing home "dead fish" and told them that the fish were not fit to eat.  "Go make a fire and get the big kettle hot.  Cook those fish for the hogs!"  So, the boys did just that but once they put the frozen fish in that warm water, they came back to life!  Amidst the peals of laughter, the two young men called to their mom.  "Come see our dead fish now!"  She was amazed and told them to quickly get the fish out of the kettle and clean them.  "We will smoke the fish!"  So, the fish were smoked and provided a good many meals for the farm family!

  This tale was told at all family functions and the tale grew with each telling but, it just goes to show, that the Back Bay of Biloxi really did freeze one year and that year was 1936!  It seems to me that with all of the archives associated with news papers, someone should have done a bit of research before proclaiming "2018 is the FIRST year for ice to form on the Back Bay!"  Obviously, someone is not doing his/her job very well.  It took a grand total of 14 seconds to find the exact year that the event took place and to verify Pop's story. (The Internet is an amazing tool.)

The Long Swim

  Every now and again some mundane incident can jog a memory of something pretty amazing.  A couple of days ago, Mark and I watched as a critter swam across from a small inlet to the pier.  Since the animal was far away from us, it was hard to identify judging by sight only.  It did not take long before I knew it was a nutria rat simply by the way it swam.  There was no up and down loping motion like that of an otter.  Still, it was not until the critter was near us that we could fully see its face.  Yep, a nutria rat was out for its morning swim.  

  As the "unidentified swimming critter" came toward us, a memory of a similar incident from years ago came flooding back into the brain.  I was on the pier early one morn when I saw what appeared to be something swimming across the Bay!  That was a far piece for any critter so I figured that it must be either an otter or a nutria rat.  Both of those could swim for miles but this animal did not swim like either.  It was struggling to keep its head above water.  At first, I could barely make out that this was indeed an animal.  After a good fifteen minutes of being in the water, the animal was finally getting near enough that I could see that it was neither an otter nor a nutria rat.  This was a little dog!  The pup had swam all the way across the Bay which included a shipping channel.  The poor animal had to be exhausted.

  Once the pup was near our pier, it tried to cling to the posts but the barnacles scraped its paws and the waves tossed the pup against the hard posts.  I grabbed the fish scoop net and made a mad dash to help the pup.  Once I was able to get  the little one to shore, I realized that this tiny thing was a poodle!  A little black poodle had swum all that way without rest!  Of course, the pup was scared, cold and starving.  I tried to help it but it cowered in the marsh. After a bit, the little one ate but then scampered off down the lane and I never saw it again.  

  It bothered me to know that somehow that pup wound up in the water and was not helped.  At the time, I had a strong suspicion that the pup's owner had decided to "eliminate" the pet by throwing it into the water.  The fact that the little poodle swam all the way across the Bay led me to believe that the poor animal was abused and terrified to start.  It broke my heart to know that the dog did not even feel that it could trust me...its rescuer.  

  The nutria rat, on the other hand, did not need rescuing.  These critters are expert swimmers and the adults have few predators except for the alligators.  It is not uncommon to see them far out from the shore.  The one that Mark and I watched, soon made its way into the marsh.  I have a feeling that this was some rogue male coming to visit the little mama that lives far back in the Bayou.  I guess we will be seeing some nutria pups in a few months.  Oh, geez....more of the critters!