Mud Mouse?

   It is not uncommon to find mice just about anywhere.  The critters seem to have an adaptable lifestyle that allows them to move right into a spot and call it home. For a while, the area was kept quite clear of the little rascals due to the fact that the old Bayou Queen had a "liking" for them.  The old cat made it hard to find evidence of any rodent, not only in our yard, but the neighbor's as well.  She often would present them with "headless critters" as a token of her love.  The Bayou Princess, Ms. Nycto, thought she was high above such menial labor and the Bayou Prince, Bat (the cat) is too busy chasing feral cats and squirrels.  The mice are having a heyday!  Thankfully, they stay outside and have not ventured into the Little Bayou House...yet.  

  My "Mud Mouse" is of a different sort.  It has been rainy, drizzly, foggy...you name it...for the past week.  I love this weather but it does make hiking a bit difficult.  Mark and I did venture down to the pier through the drippiness and found that the north wind had pushed the tide far out from the shoreline.  This exposed the soft mud for about a good thirty feet.  It was upon those mudflats that I found my mouse!  There, as perfect as you wish to see, was the most adorable critter complete with big ears and beady eyes!  Oh, my goodness!  A mud mouse had decided to come to visit!  I just had to get a photograph.

  Pareidolia is a weird thing.  Years ago, Granddad taught me to "see faces" in everything in nature.  That spilled over to seeing "things" in just about any mundane discovery.  My mud mouse was a pure bit of happenstance.  Two clam shells were perfectly aligned by the waves to allow me to see a critter..not a live mouse, at all, but the reasonable facsimile of one!  A sealed clam as the head, an open one as the ears and an ideally placed barnacle as an eye.  Yep...a MOUSE!

 Ok, so I have always admitted to having a wild imagination and I guess this is as wild as it can get.  Most folks would probably see clam shells in the mud and not much more.  My sighting, however, tickled me and brightened the day tremendously...therefore, it cannot all be bad.  Folks, when things are a bit boring or not to your liking, look for something...anything...that can bring a smile.  Do not focus on the drear...make the sunshine...even if it is a mud mouse!

It Tried...So Can I

   My 4am awakening seemed unduly dark.  While that is still long before dawn and should be dark, it was almost unnervingly dark this morning.  Still, I arose, did the usual (required) stretches and exercises, made coffee and settled in with biscuits and marmalade.  Bat (the cat) and I enjoy our quiet time before the rest of the world shakes out of bed.  After doing the initial morning chores of laundry and mopping floors, our free time began!  He and I headed to the pier then back to the gardens for a while.  I gardened while the cat did cat things.  It was still dark even though by now the sun should have been up and shining.  Perhaps it was still in bed with everyone else.

  Along about midmorning, a sudden shower caught me off guard.  The compost that I was hauling had to wait for a bit to be strewn around the cabbages as Bat and I made a hasty retreat into the greenhouse!  There we sat among the assorted tropical plants and frogs!  Oh, so many frogs have found a haven in the warm, humid greenhouse.  The shower ended so it was time to continue helping the cabbages grow.  This lasted until about noon when I noticed a glint of sunshine trying to break through the clouds.  Oh, how neat that the sun appeared to be cradled in the branches of the hickory tree!  Yep, that was cause for the camera to come out regardless of the often drizzly rain.  If the sun could try, so could I.

  My day was spent trying to replenish the gardens between rains.  Bat and I spent so much time in that greenhouse that I feel I should install a coffee pot out there!  That darkness of the predawn did not brighten much throughout the day.  Then, it made a full-blown appearance again at 4pm.  That signaled quitting time.  Now it was time for a cup of tea and some cat snuggles.  All in all...a perfect day.