The Felling of a Mighty Oak Tree

   Back between the original greenhouse and the shed, there stands the remnants of a tall oak tree.  The tree stood strong through hundreds of storms only to fall to a tiny bug.  Insects can do more damage than the raging hurricane sometimes.  A couple of years back, Son noticed that a lot of our living oak trees were infested with termites.  Yep....living trees.  This was a bit disturbing, to say the least.  He set to work trying to save the trees by using the same spray that we have had to resort to for the house, shed and any other outbuildings around here.  As much as I hate to use chemicals around the place, there comes a time when it is absolutely necessary if we want to save the place.  So, he mixed his concoction and set to work.  Well, that was a lot of work as we have a lot of trees.  Some, like the aforementioned one, were too far gone to try to save.  He still sprayed thinking maybe he could contain the infestations. Hopefully.

 Needless to say, the tree died and was soon infested not only with the termites but with black carpenter ants that were eating the termites.  We quit spraying to allow the ants to do their job.  They worked tirelessly in the dead tree but were, at the same time, preyed upon by the woodpeckers.  The entire tree soon became riddled with the drillings of the birds.  The food chain was at work.  Soon, the tree started falling bit by bit. Now, a new form of life has come to the old tree.  On one of the upper parts of the tree, there is a large hole that appears to be the nesting site of either the pileated woodpecker or a family of squirrels.  Down below among the roots, lizards, snails and beetles are enjoying life hidden under the palmettoes and shards of tree bark.

  While out back, I noticed that bracket or shelf mushrooms are rapidly taking down the tree.  The entire southern side of the tree is literally a ladder of orange mushrooms.  These mushrooms are doing the final takedown of the old oak tree.  The fungi will rot the tree as it, itself, thrives.  Soon, the old oak will come tumbling down and that will be the end of it.  However, in the meantime, the tree, even in death, is providing for the life of others.  

Once again, my heart breaks...

   It always saddens me when I find any dead critter about the Bayou but when it is a mass death, it is downright scary.  Something terrible has to have occurred to have a mass kill of anything.  Yesterday morning, I noticed that in a small pool in the marsh that sits near the pier, hundreds of mosquito fish had perished overnight.  The mud in the shallows was littered with dead bodies.  My heart hurt.  What had happened to my little fishies???  I immediately contacted my cousin who lives down the shoreline to see if she had noticed any dead fish near her place.  That answer was negative so, obviously, the problem was over this way. 

  For a few mornings prior to the fish kill, I had noticed a highly "chemical" smell each time I would go out the back door.  This door is on the Bayou side of the property.  From the Bay, the Bayou meanders northward until it turns into a creek that originates on the other side of the road.  Plenty of construction is going on there plus lots of landscaping done by new homeowners.  It is my assumption that something...something deadly...had washed into that creek and then, with the heavy rains, made its way to the Bayou and its coves.  Once the tide went out, the small tidepools were so heavily inundated with whatever chemical was in the water, they became toxic.  All life was obliterated.  My poor fishies!

  Things like this anger me to the bone.  Why cannot people respect other life...any life, for that matter.  It appears that no one cares anymore.  This sure makes me question the intelligence of humans these days.  Be stupid enough to kill off the wildlife then it becomes our turn to perish.  

Tommy's Sunrise

   It has been a hard few days.  In life, we have to face many things that we wish would not occur.  This has defined the way of life here on the Bayou for a while now.  The hardness culminated on this past Sunday morning.  I got the phone call that no one ever wants to receive.  My brother had ended his struggle.  He was free now but the pain was not over for the rest of us left here on Earth.

  For the past few years, my oldest brother has struggled, suffered and then gave into the horribleness of Alzheimer's Disease.  The first few years were not bad.  He had bouts of memory loss.  He dealt with it admirably.  Then, as the disease progressed, his personality changed from a loving, happy person to one that was fraught with confusion and frustration.  This was when it was becoming clear to him that something was not right but denial set in to the point that he refused help.  Finally, there was nothing left to do but intervene.  He had fought the valiant fight of independence but now had to submit to receiving help.  

  Once intervention came in the way of my other brother stepping in and taking over the caregiving role, things were somewhat better.  Tommy became more relaxed.  He knew he was no longer alone in his battle.  He knew that he would not become a burden on his (very ill) daughter which I think was adding to the war going on in his mind.  While the uncertainty of his day to day life was still there, the final destination was clearer.  There were days of complete oblivion and then days of perfect lucidness at the beginning.  Those clear days were soon to become far and few between.  For the past year, he became more and more dependent upon Jimmy's goodness for simple survival.  We were truly blessed to have Anna step in to aid Jimmy.  She has been a godsend to this family more than once.  

  This past week has seen the decline come with a rapidity that no one expected.  I am so blessed to be next door so I was able to see Tommy on Friday.  He was still able to be guided on short walks outside.  He and Jimmy brought my mail!  Out of the clear blue, he said "I love you." and he, by way of a gentle hand on my back, insisted I tell Jimmy the same.  But, of course!  I am so thankful that our family has always been very verbal about our love for one another but this was touching.  Jimmy whispered to me that those were the only clear words Tommy had said all day.  After they left, I went inside and had a good cry...one of thankfulness.  Later that evening, the disease took a powerful grip and the pull was too much.  Then, within hours, that grip became a strangling hold.  Tommy fought a hard battle with Jimmy and Anna by his side.  In the wee hours of Sunday morning, the disease had won the battle but Tommy had gained the prize.  On Sunday morning, his struggle left had he retained a peace like no other.  He is free.  Our hearts are broken because we can only see our loss. 

  After receiving the heartbreaking phone call from next door, I sought out my peaceful place...the Bayou.  Here, I could release my feelings.  The sun was rising over the pines and sent a glorious array of colors.  While I meandered the marsh line, I marveled at the scene set before me and knew this was a sign.  This was Tommy's Sunrise!  This was the way he looked at things.  New beginnings.  New adventures.  He had pushed so many of his students (as a teacher and coach) to reach their goals and now he had reached his.  This made me praise the morn and awakenings.

  I am asking one thing of my reading audience.  If you find it within your heart, please pray for all patients with dementia of any form.  Alzheimer's Disease is horrible.  It is so wretched on the person and, thus, their caregivers.  Also, I ask for prayers for my beautiful niece (Tommy's daughter) as she faces her own health battles.  She is very precious to me.

  If you have taken the time to read this far into such a dismal post, I thank you and leave you with this bit of advice.  Folks, be kind to all as you never know their inner battles.  Patience, love and kindness are so desperately needed in this day and age.  Offer the helping hand, the shoulder to lean on or simple a gentle smile.  Peace be with you.

The Story of a Princess

  In most faerie tales, there is a beautiful princess, some terrible trauma, a handsome prince and a happy ending.  It seems to have been the idea behind these tales that the princess always needed a handsome prince to rescue her from an evil villain.  A lot of that rings true with the story of the Bayou Princess.  She was a lovely creature who was extremely maltreated by an evil "villain", rescued by a handsome fellow and then lived the rest of her life in relative bliss.

  Ms. Nycto, the Bayou Princess Cat, came to the Bayou by hook and crook.  It seems that some not-so-nice people (the villains) dumped their unwanted pet on the roadside after nigh on starving the poor thing.  The cat made her way through the creek to the Little Bayou House and decided to stay.  I admit that I tried to shoo her back to her "home" but she was having no part of it and decided THIS was her home.  So be it.  Son (our handsome hero) was the one who first decided to feed this poor, abused animal and from that point, she became quite attached to him.  Whether he wanted a cat or not, he now had one.  She fully adored the man.  The rest was meant to be.  She was dubbed "Ms. Nycto" which is a Latin word for "night" and settled hastily into her new realm as Bayou Princess.  The cat knew she was royalty and expected to be treated as such.  She chose when to be fed, where she was to sleep and even who was allowed to pet her.  Ms. Nycto fully lived up to her title.

  Along about a month ago, yet another trial came her way.  The Bayou Princess made one too many treks through the marsh.  Somehow, she became quite mired and was missing for a couple of days.  When she reappeared, the poor, lovely lady was encrusted with mud and had received an odd injury. Ms. Nycto's tongue had been slit from the base to the tip.  A quick trip to the pet emergency room left her with stitches, a couple of shots and a very odd haircut.  She struggled with her injuries but with a little help she seemed to rally.  Then another downfall and another trip back to the ER.  From that point onward, our sweet princess declined.  She had no fight left in her.  There was one final trip to the ER and a very, very difficult decision.

  It was heartbreaking to let our sweet princess ease her way from pain and agony.  She reigned over the Bayou with grace and dignity and will leave behind a huge void.  Our lovely Bayou Princess, Ms. Nycto has completed her faerie tale.  Rest in peace, Sweet One.  You will truly be missed.

Sunrise...Sunset...And A Whole Lot Of Feelings In Between

  A long, long time ago, I sat on a step weeping over the passing of my grandmother. While the adults were discussing important things, I was sort of left to deal with this blow by myself.  To be honest, I had no idea of how to cope with such a loss.  Never before had anyone close to me died.  I was shocked, saddened and, to be honest, scared.  Sure, growing up on the farm, we saw our share of death but this was different.  THIS was my grandmother...the lady who told me sweet stories about the flowers in her gardens....the lady who soothed my bedtime fears with a cup of milk and a couple of cookies served in her finest teacups....the lady who was the epitome of the perfect Southern grandmother.  She could not leave this world without me.  Her passing was such a shock.  I knew she was ill but no one told me that it had come to this.  When we arrived at my grandparents' home, I was told to "Go sit outside.  Grandmother has died and we (meaning the adults) need to talk."  So, I went to the steps to grieve in my own confused way.

  After being there for a short time, my Aunt Marie (who lived next door) came to console me.  She talked with me a great while as we sat together on the steps.  Aunt Marie explained a lot of things that had never been discussed before.  She explained death in a beautiful way and helped me to accept what had happened.  Then, she just sat beside me and let me grieve.  Her presence was so comforting.

  One of the things Aunt Marie told me has stuck with me for a lifetime.  She compared life to the sunrises and sunsets that we observe here on the Bayou.  The sunrises are the start of a new day.  We go about our business during the day and make life the best it can be.  Then comes the sunset and we are given rest from our daily trials and frustrations.  We always have the idea that morning will come anew and we will have a fresh start. Sunrise gives us hope for eternal life...that our lives will begin again.  Sunsets are compared to the end of our earthly life.  Just like a day ending being a time for rest, death is the ending of our time here and we are to be given peace.  At the time, I was listening to words...words spilling from the mouth of someone who cared that this kid was confused and hurting.   Aunt Marie took the time to try to explain life and death the best she could under the circumstances.  She did good.  I felt better knowing that Grandmother was not in pain any longer and that there was a great possibility that I would see her again some day.  It felt good knowing that someone recognized the fact that, even though I was just a kid, I had feelings.  

  This morning's sunrise was particularly beautiful and it brought back the memory of Aunt Marie helping me through a difficult time.  I miss her even after all of these years after her death.  Even though the sunrise brought a memory of a sad time, I looked at it as a beautiful time in my life.  So, Aunt Marie, if you are up there listening to me ramble, this sunrise is for you and all of the guidance you proffered so many years ago.  Hopefully, we will meet again some day, too.