Secrets Along The Garden Paths

   Some of the best kept secrets can be found in the garden. Each morning offers a new surprise whether in the form of baby birds, caterpillars transforming to butterflies or blooms that are there only for those who search.  My gardens are pretty much left to wild abandon as plants seem to outgrow their gardens or pots.  This "rainforest" look offers plenty of hiding spots for the critters.  Each leaf is alive with lizards, skinks and frogs, not to mention, myriads of bugs.  Turtles, snakes and toads are often found hiding in the shadiness of the winding paths of the Small Gardens.  These are friends that are welcome to reside here but its those hidden blooms that intrigue.  

  Yesterday, the turmeric plants did not disappoint.  The lush (five feet tall) leaves had to be pushed aside to see the blooms.  These appear down in the midst of the stalks and bear a great resemblance to a fleshy pinecone of bright colors.  Most in the garden are white with bright pink and yellow flowers in the bracts.  While some of the flowers are edible, there are a few that are not.  Those are strictly ornamental.  (It is best to know just what type you are growing before foraging any parts!)  Edible or not, the turmeric blooms offer a bit of whimsy along the garden path.  Most folks walk right past without ever seeing this beauty.

  Another "almost" hidden bloom was found after the turmeric bracts.  A waterlily had opened a gorgeous pink bloom but it was half hidden beneath the pads.  Usually, the blooms are on stalks that are above the floating pads (leaves) but this time that was reversed.  The pads were stalked and curled upwards while the bloom floated on the water's surface.  As a bit of added interest, all parts of the waterlily are edible, although, I have not had a whim to try them...maybe some day soon.

  Folks, there is something highly tranquil about taking a stroll down a garden path at the break of dawn and finding hidden secrets of either flora or fauna.  We all need that in the craziness of the world around us.  In the gardens...there is peace.

Is He Helping?

   Mr. Bat and I arise well before dawn.  He is usually the first to come out of dreamland and, then, he nudges me until I, too, am fully awake.  As a cat, his motive is food.  He wants breakfast!  My motive is to cede to his wishes and open a can of cat food then head to the kitchen to brew a pot of strong coffee. Since the sun does not rise at this hour, I try to find projects to fill the next two hours.  Things have to stay quiet as the menfolk here are still asleep.  Art projects are usually my go-to entertainment.  Bat?  He usually goes back to sleep leaving me to my own accord.  

  This morning, I had a whim to create something utilizing an old glass tabletop from a dilapidated outdoor set.  The idea was to do some reverse glass painting on the bottom then hang the piece in the window so it appeared to be a stained glass piece.  First on the agenda was to make a paper pattern which would make the art work far easier than free-handing it on the glass itself.  Drawing on paper is the way to go, folks!  Anyway...as usual...my work was started on the floor.  The tabletop was set, paper was fitted in the top and the artwork was to begin!  Mr. Bat had other ideas...

  As with any cat, curiosity got the best of him.  Then...as with any cat, he decided that the piece was there for his pure enjoyment.  My artwork came to a halt as the cat sat on the paper then decided a nap was in order.  Well, so much for getting anything accomplished this morning!  Everyone knows that you NEVER disturb a cat that has chosen a special napping spot. Oh, if I was not so fond of this little buddy, I would get so much more done!  Then, again, maybe he thought he was helping.

Being All Scientific and Stuff....

   It is my habit of rising at 4am which gives me plenty of time to do a few "inside" household chores before heading outside just before the sun starts to rise above the pines on the far side of the Bayou.  It is during that time that I can do my best "pondering" plus catch a few fish, shrimp or crabs for the noontime meal.  Lately, however, Mark has been overloading us with fish so I have more time to do that thinking.  A couple of days ago, that thinking turned to a full bit of memories and then turned to curiosity as so many of my ponderings do.  I have to check things out to see just how accurate the old memory is.

  The moon was just a tiny, bowl-shaped sliver of silvery white against the dark sky.  I was just admiring the beauty when I heard some of Pop's words rattling around in the memories.  He always used to call this a "dry moon" because that bowl was holding all the rain.  Hmmm...dry moon.  Well, it did seem to hold some truth because we are having a painfully dry couple of weeks.  The garden definitely needs rain.  That was beside the point just now, however, as I was more interested in that dry moon.

  Sure enough, Pop may have been onto something...at least with the name.  According to all I read, this phenomenon happens only a couple of times each year depending on where you live.  It all has to do with the moon's orbit around the earth and the earth's orbit around the sun...AND...the tilt of the earth on its axis.  Yep...scientific stuff going on there.  Anyway, most of the time we see the sliver of the moon in a crescent sort of like a C but when the orbits do their thing and the moon looks like it is heading right down to the horizon, that C becomes more like a U all because of the way the sun illuminates it.  Some folks call it a "wet moon" while other call it a "dry moon" but it is basically for the same reason.  Folklore has it that when the moon is like a bowl, it is holding the rainwater thus giving a dry spell.  So...wet moon or dry moon, that bowlful of water stays put and does the gardens no good.  Folklore can seem confusing when the tales call things opposite names for the same reason.  Still, both agree that the rainy season will come back when the moon (bowl) starts to tilt and the rain spills out and down to earth.  NOW...it makes all the sense in the world...sort of...maybe. 

  Whether any of this holds true scientifically or whether it is purely folklore is yet to be seen but it sure is dry...and Pop said it so it has to be true.  Good enough for me.  So...my ponderance for the day seemed to totally hinge upon memories from so long ago.  Who needs science when you had Pop to teach you these things?!!!

Having Coffee With The Moon

   I had to laugh first thing upon waking this morning.  This past weekend, the nineteen clocks in the living room were turned forward an hour just as we are told to do.  My brain did tell me to do that.  It did not tell me that it was going to "spring forward" as I set the clocks.  I work on my time and, even though I repair antique clocks, I did not "change time".  In fact, I awoke an hour earlier than I did last week!  Yep, 3am rolled around and I was brewing that first pot of coffee.  Cinnamon rolls made yesterday and piping hot coffee never tasted so good!

  Since no one else in the house was up at this hour, I figured I had better vacate the place as to not wake them.  My coffee and I headed to the Small Gardens to sit in the cool air.  As soon as I opened the front door, I was taken aback by the big, ole moon staring at me!  After a night of thunderstorms, the sky was clear and the moon was bright.  I just had to take a picture!

  My trusty, 15 year old camera did well focusing on the moon through the branches of the old oak tree.  When you can use old technology to photograph the moon and see craters, I figure you must be doing something right.  Son is right...it does not take much to entertain me...or maybe it does.  That moon is a pretty spectacular thing.  So is rising at the right time.  And that camera is special!  Let's not forget coffee...coffee is pretty spectacular, too!  Maybe just life in general is spectacular.

Bayou Mud, Memories, And Giggles

   I often speak of our "Bayou Mud" and the quicksand-like sinking that comes with it.  Never...I repeat...NEVER drop anything into that mud that you ever wish to see again.  It ain't happenin', folks.  Once it is in there, it is there to stay.  Some 50 years ago, Pop slipped and accidently dropped a small outboard motor into the water about 3 ft from shore.  Down it went and, even though, he tried, he never found that motor again. It is probably "perfectly preserved" somewhere down deep in that mud like an ancient artifact.  Also, never think you are going to "slip" over the side of the pier/boat or whatever and walk to retrieve something.  You...you will sink just as rapidly.  Just like that...you will become so mired in the mud that you may become "perfectly preserved" like one of those bog mummies that I read about in history books only you would be a bayou mummy.

  I was thinking about the squishy mud when a memory slipped into my head.  This had been stored there for some time now just waiting for the opportunity to pop back up and bring a giggle.  When my oldest son headed off to college and had been there some time, I asked if he missed anything from back home.  I was thinking he may mention some item and I could secretly ship it to him as a surprise.  Well, that surprise was on me, I guess.  He told me that he missed the smell of the mud during low tide.  Huh?  Alrighty, then.  I never thought anyone would miss that and there went my idea of a surprise package.  I was not about to go scoop up a bottle of mud and ship it to college.  Nope...ain't happenin'!  I am not shipping mud anywhere!  It was sort of nice to hear that he did miss something from the Bayou and home, however.  Mud?  What was wrong with missing me? With all of his world travels now, I wonder if he still misses it?

  I guess if anyone was around at sunrise this morning and heard me giggling while on the pier, they most likely thought I was slap nuts.  Maybe I am...but it is nice to think back on fun memories instead of dwelling on the current state of affairs in this old world.  

Crepe Myrtles and Sun Beams

   You can tell that I do not leave the Bayou much when I start marveling over what others simply overlook.  A tiny mushroom, water droplets on a leaf or even the "perfect pine cone" can send me into a frenzy to grab the camera.  I have no idea why I photograph everything around here since after I am dead and gone, the pictures will most likely be "dead and gone", as well.  Others do not seem to be enthralled by these simple things.  I am.

  This morning, it was the way the sun's rays were filtering through the crepe myrtle blossoms.  The backlit bloom was almost mesmerizing to me.  A soft breeze gently swayed the cluster of blooms causing the light to almost dance.  Of course, that morning sun brightened the already hot-pink blooms making them seem like pink fire.  Yes, the imagination was in high gear as I sat in the old wicker chair, drinking coffee and swatting mosquitoes.  So goes life on the Bayou.