Grapefruit Trees and Rebar...The Odd Pair!

  The oddities found on the Bayou never fail to intrigue me.  By oddities, I am referring to things found where they do not belong.  Sure, I find the occasional trowel on a tree stump or perhaps part of my lawnmower in the bushes (different story but still interesting) but those are nothing compared to say a filet knife found on the rooftop!  I have yet to figure out how that got there and whether I have some unknown enemy out there threatening my wellbeing with a filet knife! Still, these things are interesting, to say the least.

  Today's find?  Well...a piece of rebar.  While that, in itself, is not the most unusual find, the whereabouts of said rebar is.  What in the world was a piece of rebar doing up in the top of the grapefruit tree???  That...my friends...is the question of the day!

  Mark finally took the notion to cut out the dead parts of the citrus trees.  Termites had taken up residence in the roots of the trees and pretty much killed the grapefruit trees.  (Who says that citrus oil helps prevents an infestation??  Yeah, I read that somewhere.  Definitely not true.)  Anyway, as he cut the thirty foot tall trees down, a piece of rebar came tumbling to the ground.  Thankfully, it did not hit anyone or anything as it plummeted to the ground.  

  The rebar is bent into a lovely hook-shape making me ponder if someone had tried to use it to shake down fruit at some point.  It is approximately twenty-one inches long so is quite large.  I asked Son, since he has always picked the fruit from these huge trees for us, but he says that he always just climbed the trees.  Yep, that is something that I can vouch for as I am the one to "catch" those hefty fruits as he tosses them from the treetops.  Mark said he did not attempt such a dangerous game of tossing a rebar thirty feet into the air and I know I could never heave that thing up there.  This leaves me one conclusion...perhaps the rebar was hung on a low limb when the tree was small and then hoisted as the tree grew?  Who knows???  Surely, it was not the same culprit that left the knife on the rooftop....you think?  

  All is well that ends well, however.  The grapefruit trees are thinned of dead wood and the danger of the rebar hook has now passed.  Still...lingering questions....always lingering questions!

Not So Friendly Critter

   If there is one thing the Bayou has it is plenty of mud.  Not "pretty" mudpuddle mud but stinky, slippery, staining, mucky mud.  People often ask me if I ever swim in the waters here and that is met with a huge "No!" but that is not just because of the mud.  It is what hides in that mud and murky waters.  Aside from the alligators and cottonmouths, there are the snapping turtles.  Usually, gators and snakes are relatively easy to see but those turtles blend so remarkably well with the mud that it would only take one misstep before you would receive a nasty bite.

Yesterday, I was on the pier and noticed what seemed to be just another mound of mud in the shallows.  Sometimes, the otters slide around enough that mud will mound up in piles.  Seeing the mound, I had an inkling that this was not mud but a turtle and, sure enough, when I got closer, I could see the outline of its head beneath the water.  Yep, there was that old snapping turtle stalking bull minnows.

  I sat on the pier a short distance from the turtle and watched.  After a bit, the turtle started moving around.  Its head came out of the water and I was able to photograph our grouchy critter.  Snapping turtles are known to not be the friendliest of critters so I kept my distance.  The turtle soon moved on through the marsh in search of more breakfast.  The "mud mound" was gone!

Speak Softly

  I guess I am just tired.  It seems as if this week has contained more attempts at wearing on my last nerve than the entire year.  From losing the sweet old dog to being treated rudely, things started to pile up until the "ugly" was peeping close to the surface.  At times like this, it is a struggle to keep the head level and mind gentle.  "Speak softly, lady, speak softly" is a constant reminder flitting through my brain.

  This morning, yet another thing irked me.  This time it was not something that I can control other than to "clean up the mess".  While Mark was motoring out from the pier in the small skiff, I noticed several bits of trash in the mud.  The tide was low so everything was exposed.  I am used to picking up the occasional beer can or water bottle.  Those are bad enough as they create a total mess on our beautiful shoreline but, this morning, the trash was actually a danger.  Someone had obviously discarded large beer bottle.  This bottle had become broken (either before being tossed or after..who knows?) and could have caused a wicked injury to anyone swimming, throwing the net or cleaning up the mess, as I do.  I was careful not to be cut by the jagged glass.  A cut would have been painful but with the bacteria still lingering in our waters, a simple nick could be life-threatening.  

  I realize there are those who will find my dismay trivial and, like I said earlier, I guess I am just tired, but the fact that people throw their garbage in the very waters that are enjoyed around here really irks me.  It brings to mind that adage...Only trash litter.  Yep, only trashy people think to dispose of their garbage by littering up the place, however, when it comes to putting others in immediate danger (as this broken glass does), it is downright hateful!  So, my day began with a bit of irritation.  Once again, the speak softly refrain echoed among the cobwebs in the dusty corners of my mind.  Speak softly.

Its Down

  Have you ever felt like some bit of gloom and doom was just hanging over your head?  Perhaps you felt threatened by some unseen entity that was there, yet not?  My threat was there.  It was real.  The gloom and doom that could have happened did actually lurk just above my head.  Today...it is gone.  No longer is the threat of bodily harm (or worse) looming just out of reach.  Poof!  It is no longer there!  Whew!  What a relief that is!

  Back last hurricane season, we had a minor hurricane whip in on the Bayou and stir things up a bit.  Hurricane Nate did not do damage other than a few branches being thrown about the place and a high water line of debris that needed removing.  We were finished cleaning in a matter of hours...or so it seemed.  High up above us on the west side of the Little Bayou House, danger lurked.   Unbeknownst to us, the top of a huge Water Oak had been topped out and the massive piece was suspended between the crotch of the original tree and a branch of a nearby Live Oak.  Since both trees were full of foliage, we never noticed the broken tree for a couple of weeks.  Then, try as we might to pull it, the huge branch (a good 15 inches in diameter) stayed in its wedged position.  Son had thrown a rope over the broken treetop and tied it off to a nearby pine tree.  This was to keep the thing from slamming the rooftop.  It did a good job.

  Here lately, though, the thing started creaking and groaning with the high winds of springtime.  It was time to get that thing down!  Being as it was still a good thirty feet up, the ladder was useless and I was sure not letting Son shimmy up that tree with a chainsaw!   Getting a ladder truck in here was nigh on impossible so it came down to brute strength....Son's brute strength.  After a bit of ingenuity and a makeshift winch of sorts, he had the treetop groaning more and making appearances of it falling soon.  One last heave on the rope and I heard a loud cracking!  The treetop came crashing down!  Once it hit the ground, a huge limb broke off, bounced high into the air and smashed into the window screen of the living room!  Miraculously, only the screen was smashed!  Earlier, I had raised the windows to let the breeze cool the house!  Another sigh of relief!  

  Now, I can breathe easier!  The broken treetop is down leaving only a mess of tree limbs to clear from the yard and a window screen to rebuild!  Whew!  Glad that is done...now to get ready for the new hurricane season that is nigh upon us!

Treading on Dangerous Mud!

  With the lack of a winter and the sudden onset of springlike weather, the critters of the Bayou stand in a state of confusion.  Birds are nesting, frogs and toads are beginning their nightly serenading and those snapping turtles are creepy-crawling about the mudflats.  It is those snapping turtles that gave me a cause to ponder this morning.  Knowing that the turtles can flat out disappear under the soft mud whenever they choose, it is a wonder that more of the docile critters are not injured.  

  Today, a lone Great Egret fished along the marsh edge.  It was wading in just a few inches of water and would occasionally step up onto the mudflats.  In the water, it would shuffle its feet hoping to stir up some tiny minnow or crab.  Then the bird would make a quick snatch and have a bit of breakfast.  Those long spindly legs gave me worry, though.  As the egret made its way up on the mudflat where one particularly large snapping turtle had been seen earlier, I fretted over those legs.  Let one misstep occur and that turtle might have broken a leg in two pieces. Thankfully, that did not happen...at least while I was watching.

  Pondering further, I had the realization that a tradedy of this sort may have been what befell our dear, old friend, Skipper Hopper.  Two years ago, we befriended and helped a Great Blue Heron that was severely injured. Its ankle had been broken and, now, I am about certain that a snapping turtle might have been the culprit that did the foul deed.  In all likelyhood, the bird probably tread a bit too close to a submerged snapping turtle and the turtle did not take too kindly to the intrusion. One quick clamp of those powerful jaws could surely have inflicted the injury that the poor bird suffered.  

  As I sat watching the egret, my mind wandered back to Skipper Hopper. The egret was so engrossed in its feeding that I am positive that it was not thinking about the dangers that could lurk beneath the very mud where it was walking.  Life is not easy for the critters of the Bayou.