Ouch and Double Ouch!

  I love sharing plants with folks who visit the Bayou.  If I have it, I can either give you cuttings, seeds or a small rooted sapling.  My granddad always used to tell me "If you share your plants, it makes yours grow better."  I am not sure how that works but it did instill in me the fact that it is always grand to share what you have.  Years ago, I gave my sweet niece a small rose bush that had rooted beneath the parent plant.  These roses make large clusters of tiny pink roses and it does not take long before the long canes will cover a fence or arbor.  She loves it.  Her husband does not.  Erik calls this the "Devil Plant" as it always "reaches out to grab me with its thorns."  Well, admittedly, it is covered with thorns and is quite "grabby" if you get close enough to it.  

  Well, Erik, I think I have you beat.  I have found the "Devil's Sword" plant!  I fully agree that those rose thorns are wickedly sharp, but I expect them to be on the rose canes.  This other plant gets me every time because I am not familiar with the thing.  A few years back, my brother brought me a plant because he felt sorry for it being on a trash pile.  "Here, you can have this."  So...what do you do other than plant the thing.  The plant in question is a type of yucca, I think.  It looks highly similar to the wild yuccas that grow down the hill.  I made the mistake of planting this one beside the pathway.  Not smart.  The thing was small when I received it but has grown exponentially since planted.  

 The plant has blades (like all yuccas) and each of those blades is tipped with a needle sharp point! Those things hurt like crazy when they stab you!  So, instead of being "just another yucca" this thing has been dubbed the "Devil's Sword" and I have a feeling that it will be moved far down the hillside (if not to a trash pile without a word to my brother.)  Can I share this plant with anyone??  Any takers??  It is wicked!

Dastardly Devil and Water Witches

  The Bayou has seen its share of precipitation over the past few days and it seems that we are in for a few more days of such sogginess.  The sky stayed dark gray except for one fleeting moment when the sun actually poked its head out to check on things.  Strange thing was that moment happened right in the middle of a heavy downpour!  To get an idea of  just how fleeting it was, by the time I grabbed my camera to get a picture, the clouds had blocked out the sun once again.  Drats! (A photographic attempt was taken through the screen door but did not show the weather phenomenon accurately.  It was that moment of brightness that struck a memory.  "The devil is beating his wife!"  Yep, it is a Southern thing.  In Deep South Mississippi, this has long been the "reasoning" behind the phenomenon of the sun shining while it is raining.  The logic behind the saying is that the evil devil was angry at God for creating beautiful, sunshiny days and, as the devil would do, he took out his anger on his wife.  Her tears fell in the form of raindrops.  So, any time the sun would shine while it was raining, folks would say "The devil is beating his wife again."  The devil's wife must suffer terribly and should consider leaving that abusive marriage!  

  The rain could not keep my cousin and me from the pier, though.  She and I went down between thunderstorms so she could fish a little before heading back to Georgia.  Her weekend here was far too short but she did end it with the catch of a fine redfish.  After she left, I made a last quick trip to the pier to check the old skiff.  It was then that I spied the Water Witches.  A whole water dance of grebes had flown into the Bayou and were hanging out for the drab day.  (Yes, a group of grebes is a water dance!)  Horned Grebes have the unfortunate nickname of "water witches" which, as far as I can tell, stems from the fact that they have red eyes.  To my way of thinking, this is a sad nickname to slap on such a sweet bird.  

  So between the rainstorms, dastardly devil and water witches, it has been one interesting, albeit drab, day.  Come the weekend, I might be wishing this weather was back as we are to see our first bout of cold air hitting the Bayou.  Brr!  Better stock up the woodpile!