Quirkiness in full swing!

   To be honest, it has taken more days than I wanted to take down the Christmas decorations even though not nearly as many were in place as in years past.  The holidays came and went with little fanfare other than the delightful visit of my oldest son, daughter-in-law and grandkids.  If I could have had them here without all of the hullabaloo, things would have been far more perfect.  Still, I did what was expected and, albeit, minimal, the place was decorated.  Then...the virus struck (or was brought to us) and I endured 8 days of fever.  I had no other symptoms...Son (younger) was not so lucky.  He ran the full gamut of symptoms so taking down decorations was solely up to me.  

  It was while I was on a ladder removing garland that a thought occurred.  I was musing how happy it was to bring the Little Bayou House back to its mysterious, magical place when the mind began to wander to those who have stark, vacant homes.  I could not live that way.  White walls, few (if any) decor pieces, and always matching furniture has to be boring.  To my way of thinking, it would remind me of living in an institution where all points of interest have been removed.  There is nothing to stir the mind.  My mismatched conglomeration of oddities evokes curiosity.  In turn, curiosity evokes creativity and creativity brings productivity.  If you cannot lead a productive life then what is it worth? 

  Granted, each of us have our own ideas of how things should be and none of us are wrong.  The only "wrong" thing is when others try to force their ideas down your throat by either bombarding you with unwanted advice or by trying intimidation to achieve their goal.  Thank you very much but...no, thank you.  The Little Bayou House shall remain a "house of curiosities" where the weird and wonderful things come to reside and be appreciated.  In fact, I have often been dubbed as the "Keeper of Weird and Wonderful Things" and I happily accept that title.  If that bothers others...so be it.  You keep being you and I shall keep being me...quirky, curious, creative and productive...all of those things that go hand in hand.  I refuse to live a bland, stark life to please anyone!

Bayou Magic at Dawn

  Once again, I urge folks to really stop and take notice of their surroundings.  There are so many things that we all overlook everyday.  STOP!! Stop and literally "smell the roses".  Life is so amazing but most people never pause long enough to notice.  We all become so caught up in our everyday lives that taking the time to really see what is around us is low man on the totem pole.  Nope!  No more!  Call it a resolution or a promise to yourself but really take the time to find the miracles in your own backyard.  It matters not if you study some small pebbles or start identifying wildflowers...just really take notice of things. After a short time, you will find that there is a whole new world opening up to you.  Discovering what is naturally there can increase your creativity, relieve stress and actually improve your health!

  Down behind the greenhouse, there is one thicket that is full of tiny plants and mosses.  If I am there at the right time of day and the sun is doing its thing, the whole place turns into a magical spot.  As the sunbeams spill through the canopy of leaves overhead, each tiny plant is highlighted.  Shadows dance off the tree trunks and leaf-laden ground.  I fully expect at some times to find a band of tiny elfin creatures residing there!

  Today's magical find was a small clump of Oxalis or Wood Sorrel.  This is one of many types of wood sorrel that can be found now growing wild throughout the area.  The sorrels are one of my favorite wildflowers simply because they can bloom any time of year.  Let a couple of warm days come and the woods are full of the hot pink blooms. The sunbeams highlighted the blooms in a glorious manner!  I sat in awe of the beauty.  Here...here is a little Bayou Magic.

  

  

Morbid Curiosity?

  Early today, Son and I went out to cut more firewood.  This cool front has pulled the cast iron woodstoves into work mode.  To keep warm, the stoves need to be constantly stoked causing me to use a good bit of firewood.  Today's chore completed two tasks at the same time.  A good many trees in the yard needed trimming and we needed to find wood to cut.  Trimming the limbs gave us a good bit of firewood!  Two for one!   He would cut the limbs and I would drag them near the house to be cut into the right size.  We have found this to be easier than hauling the already cut firewood.  We were about finished for the day when I noticed something strange on the ground under a tall oak tree.  The "item" looked like feathers but not as those from a live bird.  I poked at it then discovered a beak.  Oops...that WAS a bird...at one time.  Now it was a pile of icky feathers, a few bones and the beak.  Well, now.  This discovery led to a lengthy discussion about what this was and how it got here.

  After a good bit of poking the goop, we have come to the conclusion that this is an owl pellet.  Owls gulp down small prey without ripping it apart.  Their bodies cannot digest feathers, some bones and, of course, the beak of a bird.  The enzymes in an owl's digestive track are not strong enough to break down these items so they are stored in the bird's gizzard until it is full.  Then, the bird will regurgitate the parts in a semi-solid form.  The "pellets" are usually around 2 to 3 inches long (sometimes larger) but, of course, this depends on the type and size of the owl, itself.  The one today seemed much larger but, then, I have been hearing so really large owls, as of late.

  I was now curious as to what type bird was eaten.  With the shape of the beak, the bird can at least be narrowed a bit and with the feathers being quite unidentifiable, the beak is about all I have to use.  The size of the bird would be rather small, the beak is "dagger-like" and the feather colors seem to be beige and (?)white.  This eliminated a good many birds of this area and this is assuming that the bird was not a migratory bird.  After doing a bit of research, I would offhandedly say this may be one of the sandpipers that have a tendency to roost on the pier at night.  It makes sense that they would be an easy target for a hungry owl.  Keep in mind that this is amateur sleuth work and by no means a sure thing.  If anyone can help me out here, please chime in and give your two cents' worth!  It would be greatly appreciated!  Call it morbid curiosity or whatever you wish but I really like to make new discoveries like this.  It helps me to learn more about my critter friends...all of them...the predators and the prey. 

The Stars Underfoot

  Several of my friends are avid hikers who often drive to wilderness parks or find nearby areas to do their exploring.  They discover wondrous things along their chosen paths and love to share their finds via photographs.  I find these pictures enthralling as they spike the curiosity and make me ponder if I can find such things here on the Bayou.  Sometimes, it just takes a kick in the right direction.  I know I will never find the snow-filled wonderlands that my cousin, Libby, does on her hikes nor the historic "man-made" finds that my daughter-in-law's Uncle Mark stumbles upon but there is always the outside chance that I can find a few of the same plants or critters in the photographs of an (unmet) friend, David, who lives in Florida.  All three of these folks inspire me to keep searching even though my hikes cover just the area around the Bayou.  

  I have taken to searching more for the "unnoticed" among curiosities along my hiking path.  The tiny spider that lives in a hickory nut shell, the small brown skink that scurries under the leaves, the minuscule bluets that grow beneath the taller grasses all pique the interest.  I want to know more about this often overlooked world of magnificent entities...the tiny tidbits of life that, more oft than not, go unseen, are trampled upon or merely ignored.

  Today's masterpiece of Mother Nature is none other than an earthstar!  Earthstars are mushrooms that closely resemble the familiar puffballs only they go one step (literally) further in releasing their spores.  An earthstar uses the same method of a puffball that "poofs" spores out of a tiny hole in the top of the ball.  The only difference is, the earthstar has an outer covering that protects the spores when it is not time to release them.  Usually, the spores are pounded out of the ball by raindrops.  The spores need the moisture to grow so earthstars are adamant about not letting them "poof" before the time is right.  The outer covering of an earthstar stays tightly closed around the ball until it "feels" the rain coming.  Then, it splits open and folds backwards revealing the inner spore ball.  This flattening of the outer cover is how the earthstar gets its name.  When it splits, the outer covering is somewhat star-shaped.  That extra "step" is that the earthstar can and does fold back up over the ball if the rains quit before the spores are all released. This action protects the spores from drying out too much.  As soon as another rainstorm threatens the area, the earthstar springs into action and folds the "star" back open to let the raindrops do their work.

  I was tickled to find the earthstar this morning.  This one was just the outer covering as the hard rains of last night obviously emptied the spore ball and the high winds ripped the ball from the covering.  My little earthstar had completed its life cycle and left its spores to renew the next generation.  It is tiny things like this that make life interesting.  Just think of how many wonders of the world are stepped on, walked over or ignored on a daily basis. 

Pretty, Little Millipede!

  I am curious by nature and find some of the most mundane things exceedingly interesting.  What others pass by as boring,  I will drop to my knees and study for hours.  Of course, now that I am...ummm...a LITTLE older, I have the time to do this but the curiosity has been with me since I was a wee tot.  This was perhaps most instilled in me by my grandfather.   Being the youngest of a brood of five, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents...or...maybe they were stuck with me when Mom needed a break.  In my small mind, it was a treat, regardless.  Granddaddy often would take me outside to explore the yard.  Every flower, tree, bird and bug was met with great excitement.  He would take the time to tell me odd little facts about each discovery.  I am not sure just how he knew all of these things but I am so glad that he saw fit to teach me.

  This morning while Son and I were cleaning up after some major construction on the Little Bayou House, I noticed a tiny sand circle on the ground.  We had cleared the area of some large sheets of cement board and of course the spot was teeming with critters.  This circle, however, stood out as being my curious find of the day.  It was just too perfectly formed and had a critter dwelling inside!  The palest of pale millipede seemed unperturbed that we had removed the roof of its house.  The millipede was tightly coiled inside its earthen home and was probably hoping we would just go away and let it finish its nap.  Nope!  I needed to photograph that sweet thing!

  After my photography session, I did, indeed, leave the critter be.  In fact, knowing it desired a cool, dark place to spend the day, I gently covered the sleeping critter with some damp mulch.  Whereas other folks would have immediately pulled out the insecticide, I saved the creature.  These things do so much good, whether folks want to believe it or not.  Millipedes are sort of the great recyclers of the critter world.  They have an intense appetite for decaying plant matter, fungi and small insects. They do their part of keeping all of this recycled back into the ground.  Pretty neat.  Pretty Millipede!

Curious Pepper!

  Well, folks!  It is raining....AGAIN!  The rain gauge read five full inches from midnight to 7am.  That is a lot of rain! Things are flooded and there is no end in sight.  It has rained all day and is predicted to do so for the next couple of days.  Then, after a brief respite of one day, the week ahead looks just as wet.  All of this rain (and a sore back from cleaning the Frog Pond) kept me inside today.  I was just starting to get bored when I received a phone call from my son-in-law.  He was at the vet's office with yet another "throwaway" pet that my daughter rescued. Since they use the same vet as we do, he was just minutes away from the Little Bayou House.  "I have a huge favor to ask....Can you watch Pepper for me for a few hours while I go to work?"  Could I?  Yay!  I had something to entertain me for the day!

  So Pepper came to the Little Bayou House and immediately claimed it as her own.  While Ms. Put, the old Bayou Queen, snoozed in the entryway and Ms. Nycto, the Bayou Princess, insisted on staying out in the rain, the little visitor kept me company.  She explored the living room from top to bottom.  Every piece of furniture had to be inspected, every inch of floor sniffed and every nook entered.  It was not long before she realized that she could walk the window ledge and get between the blinds and pane.  At first, she was content to eye the squirrel that lives in the oak tree near the house but when she discovered that her field of view was vastly increased by standing, she was a happy camper!  At that height, she could see over the fence.  This opened up a whole new world of sights.  

  Watching the little cat explore did, indeed, make the dreary day a lot brighter.  Had Robbie not brought Pepper by for a visit, the day would have been quite dull.  It is amazing how our critter friends bring happiness into our lives.  Thank you, Robbie, for sharing this precious (albeit curious) cat with me!