Life in the Orange Trees

   A massive cleanup of the yard is in full swing.  There were so many back-to-back hurricanes and tropical storms crashing through the area that we never completed one cleanup before another had to begin.  Usually, those were put off as much needed repairs were done first.  Now, however, there has been just enough break for us to really make progress in areas that were neglected...neglected far too long.  This cleanup has brought some giggles...some tears...and a lot of achy muscles but...we are making progress.  

  While doing this cleanup, Son noticed that there were termites literally infesting the live citrus trees.  I was wondering why so many looked rather puny this year but never expected it to be termites.  He started treating the ground around the trees and I started lopping off any limbs that looked compromised. It is just about to the point that we should fully take out the whole grove but we will try to salvage any that we can.  It was on one of those "lopping frenzies" that I had to stop and enjoy one of those miracles of life situations.  A Great Swallowtail was just emerging from its cocoon!  This was interesting enough but then I found an Orange Dog Caterpillar on the same tree!  How neat to find two stages of the same type butterfly!  Too bad neither of these eat termites.

Just A Friendly Spider!

   Oh, the things we find!  Son has been doing a huge cleanup of the yard this past week.  With most of the termite-damage reconstruction of the Little Bayou House completed, it was time to regain the yard.  This has gone on for too long.  I had started the cleanup and relandscaping back before falling ill but that all came to a standstill during my recuperation period.  When he finished rebuilding the pier, Son took over the cleanup.  He has done most of the "heavy" work but has no clue how I want to "pretty" up the place.  His idea of the perfect yard would have no gardens, no ponds, no fences and definitely no decorations of any kind.  A clean, clear lawn would suit him fine.  Me?  I need the mystery that outdoor "rooms" create.  Winding pathways, dark, shady nooks, babbling water features (snakes and frogs included) and funky gates.  All of those things are up to me.  He does, however, call me whenever he finds some odd critter during his work.  Today, a spider put a halt to the chores.

  Son called me as he was clearing a pile of lumber.  "Hey, there is a bug."  I knew to grab the camera because it had to be something out of the ordinary if he brought attention to it.  Sure enough, it was an odd looking critter.  When I told him it was a Long-jawed Spider, he shrugged and muttered something about it had long legs not a long jaw.  Well, he had a point but the spider's name would have to stay.

  Long-jawed Spiders are pretty neat critters.  They have figured out that nighttime provides for the best hunting and so they while away the daytime hours in hiding (like this one).  In the evening, the spider will crawl out of its nook and spin a large web usually over water.  They depend on the morphing of water bound larvae to adults as a food source.  Mosquitoes, mayflies and midges all lay eggs in water. When the larvae develop into adults and leave the water, they become ensnared in the spider's web.  Spider is happy....I am happy....a lot less bugs.  

  Since Son wanted to complete his chore, I gently moved our friendly spider to a spot closer to the little Puddle Pond.  She can have lots of hiding places and will be able to catch any flying critters tonight.  Happy hunting, Long-jawed Spider!  You are welcome to stay here!

Cristobal, you can leave now!

  Well, Tropical Storm Cristobal came to visit the Bayou and is stirring up a tad bit of trouble before he makes his exit.  Yes, I do know that the storm "officially" made landfall in Louisiana but, like I said before, that put us on that right side...the side you do not want to be on during any tropical system.  Why?  Because in any typical storm, that upper right quadrant (our side in this case just like in Hurricane Katrina) is the side that catches the brunt of the wind, tidal surge and rain.  The area that is impacted by the right side of a tropical system in the Atlantic Basin, is in for trouble.  We got trouble by the buckets!  Rain...lots and lots of rain fell on the area and that created flooding and wind..sometimes gusting nigh on to hurricane force, pushed even more water into our area.  In fact, as of this writing, the rain gauge reads a little over 8 inches. This flooding is not going to go away for a while.  Here on the Bayou, we are lucky.  We live on a hill that overlooks the Bay and Bayou.  While the tidal surge came and is slowly receding at this time, the rain filling the creek that empties into the back of the Bayou is causing trouble for those behind us.  Here, the rain slides off into the Bay.  Others are not so fortunate.  The water from rivers, creeks, ponds and any low spots just pools and then floods into houses.  Not good.  

  The pier seems to have taken a beating and planks have wandered off to parts unknown.  Those will have to be replaced.  Hopefully, (I cannot tell yet as water is still covering it) the base structure of the pier is still intact.  Planks can be replaced with a little hard work.  The gardens look a whole lot worse for wear.  The wind has pretty much tattered the plants.  Again, with a little hard work, those can be replaced.  Son and I worked throughout the storm to keep things together.  Several times, we had to brave the pelting rains and high winds to hoist the skiffs a bit further up the hill until we finally just chained the boats to a sturdy oak tree.  Enough of that!  

  Tomorrow will find us with more rain and occasional fierce winds but hopefully the storm surge will be down.  Cleaning up the debris line across the front and side yards will have to wait until Cristobal decides to make a full exit.  As I am writing, the winds are still rapping at the windows and rain is continually pelting the rooftop.   Some of these storms just refuse to leave!

Where There Is Smoke.....DON'T BREATHE!!!

  The "Big Cleanup" of the yard is still underway.  Today, the rose garden was cleared and trimmed, fig trees "un-mulched" and about a billion acorns and hickory nuts were raked and carted off down he hill.  There, the nuts can feed numerous critters for the next few weeks but will be out from underfoot.  There is nothing worse than stepping on a hickory nut and taking a slippery slide down the hillside.  It is best that the nuts are out of the way.  As all of this was being done, my little burn pit was chugging out smoke from leaves and twigs.  The garden area was sometimes quite thick with the smoke but since we had a stiff north wind, the smoke was soon sent flying over the Bay.  Occasionally, a heavy fog would roll back in off the Bay making it difficult to tell if the smoke was the problem or if the haze was fog.  

  About noontime, I began to notice that the area was becoming quite obscured by the white haze.  Hmmm, fog?  Smoke?  Maybe a mixture?  It was about that time that my brother called asking if I smelled smoke.  Duh??  Of course!  I even smelled of smoke myself! I had been burning leaves all morning but it did not make sense that he should smell my little burn pile.  He was north of me and with the wind blowing everything south, the smell should have followed.  That said, he informed me that he could hardly see anything down his way and he thought perhaps there was a woods fire north of him.  That's it!  A woods fire would account for all of the heavy smoke but that did not bode well for his place nor the Little Bayou House.  Again, that wind was blowing everything southward...right on top of us.  A quick trip to the pier, proved that whatever was burning, it was truly huge.  Everything was blocked from view. 

  After a bit, a call to the fire department was met with "Its a controlled burn.  Everything is ok....just do not drive, stay indoors if the smoke gets too thick and, well, don't breathe."  Huh, don't breathe?  The first two directives were pretty logical advice but that last one had me pondering the smarts of the person taking the calls.  LADY!  I HAVE TO BREATHE!  

  The smoke lingered for the rest of the day even though my little burner died out. Even tonight, the air is thick with the stench of the smoke. Whew!  I am glad that I did not cause all of that!  My little burner cannot wreak that much havoc!

As Pale As A Ghost!

  It was workday here on the Bayou.  Yard work has been put off long enough and if the weather insists on it being springtime, then lets just go with the flow and agree.  Its springtime...or at least it is until the next cold spell.  So let the gardening and cleanup begin!  The first thing to go was the old wisteria arbor.  It had seen better days and since repairing it was far harder than replacing it, the thing smashed to the ground. Goodbye arbor!  You have served well but it is time to bid you farewell. Then came the woodpile.  Since few fires have been needed in the old wood stove, the pile had become an unsightly mess!  The logs too rotten met the same fate as the old arbor and were heaved to the burn pile.  Any solid pieces were restacked on the steel rack and were covered.  If not needed to supply warmth indoors, the fire pit outside will soon be in use.  There is nothing better than sitting outside around the fire pit on chilly evenings as you listen to the critters foraging around the Bayou. That makes for an interesting evening!

 It was on the woodpile that a critter was encountered that temporarily drew the attention away from chores.  A single white roach (yep, I watched the critter for a bit before..umm..ridding the woodpile of the intruder) clung to one of the split logs.  The roach made no effort to scurry away to a hiding place so I had a front row seat to observe the critter.  A white roach...imagine that!  Living on the Bayou, any number of critters can be found creepy-crawling about the place but it is rare that a white roach is seen.  Nope, it is not considered a "rare" species nor is it even remotely unusual.  Sighting one is just difficult.  Contrary to what is the common thought of the critter, it is not an albino.  The roach is just like any other roach except that this one was undergoing a specific change in its life.  Roaches are like all other critters that have hard exoskeletons.  They have to shed their old outer shells when they get too large for them.  There is just no other way to "change clothes". The white roach that was seen today was doing just that.  It was shedding...or, to be more precise, had just shed.  Its new outer layer had not hardened yet.  Once the process is fully complete, the roach would acquire its normal coloring once again. 

  The shedding of its outer "shell" accounts for the critter's inability to scamper about.  When I uncovered the critter, it could do no more than cling to the log.  Had it stayed exposed long, either a predator (such as a bird or lizard) would have snatched the tasty (icky!) tidbit for a snack or it would have been dehydrated by the bright sunshine.  At this point, the critter is highly vulnerable...to even things like my shoe!  So long, ghost roach!  So long, arbor!  So long, rotten firewood!  The garden area looks so much better already!