The Life of Goldie

   Since I have been forced to slow down a bit due to health issues, I have to find things to entertain myself.  Thankfully, as Son has always said, I am easily amused so it is not overly hard to deem something as interesting enough to take a break from chores.  This afternoon after canning hot sauce, I headed outside to empty the remnant pepper stems.  Once I returned from the compost, my attention suddenly was drawn to the eaves of the house.  Aha!  My good friend "Goldie" was busying herself in her web.  Goldie is none other than a Golden Silk Orb Weaver.  The spider, I am quite sure, is the offspring of the one who had a web in the exact same corner of the back porch.  It seems that this is a favorite spot of these huge spiders and I am all for them being there.  With the wet weather we have had lately, there are a ton of every type biting bug imaginable so Goldie is sure to be well-fed.  But...why suddenly has she captured my attention?  Well, Goldie was busy, as I said.  It did not take long for me to figure out that she was in the midst of molting!  Goldie was going to get bigger!  

  Every year since I was a kid, I would seek out the orb weavers simply because they are so huge.  The palm-sized spiders demand attention from all but especially of curious kids.  Back in the day when I was a small kid, I watched as they spun their webs across the window in Pop's shed.  Now, I watch as one molts near the backdoor.  Funny how things come full circle, isn't it?

  Grandmother once told me how these spiders spin their gigantic webs to bridge a gap between the human world and that of nature and whosoever treated the spider with kindness would always be protected.  Well, even though I know that Grandmother merely did not want me to destroy the web (for the same bug-catching reasoning I have now), it would be nice to know that a spider this size is on my side if things ever hit the fan and I am in trouble!  

  Goldie still has another couple of months to grow before she weaves her egg sac and fills it with eggs.  Those eggs will hatch in a few weeks but the spiderlings will stay put in that sac throughout the winter months.  Then!  Then, the tiny critters will spill out and things will start anew.  Man, I love Goldie!

Always Look Before Dropping!

   The past few weeks found me bit unmotivated.  I did not really want to be doing much of anything.  The days could have been spent doing absolutely nothing and I really would not have complained.  Still...I did.  It was time to delve into the craft room and do a bit of organizing and purging.  Somehow, I had collected far too much stuff with good intentions of doing...it did not happen.  So, it was purge time!  When I started, the days were dreary so Mr. Bat, the Bayou Prince Cat, stayed inside to help me.  This was probably not the best idea but I welcomed his company.  He always makes things much more interesting, if not downright amusing.

  At one point in my cleaning, I decided to pull some yarn for the start of a new afghan.  (Perhaps a bit of creativity would brighten the spirits.)   It is my custom to pull all the yarn needed and put it in a lovely basket that Mark bought for me several years ago.  That basket holds just enough to finish a full-sized afghan!  Deciding on the colors, I pulled skein after skein.  With my arms full, it was time to plop it all in the basket.  Oops!  Nope!  That basket had been claimed as a new cat bed!  

  It is a good thing that I looked before plopping all that yarn into the basket.  Poor Bat would have been terrified and a scared cat in a craft room is not a grand idea.  Can you imagine him careening off the boxes of beads, hitting the carefully placed bottles of paint and then bolting up the curtains to top shelf holding the vials of sequins, glitter and seed beads?  Oh, goodness!  My half cleaned craft room would have been in shambles!  What a "cat-astrophe" that would have been. My foresight saved me!

  Instead of using the yarn basket, I simply dropped my armload onto the sofa and hoped for the best.  Perhaps Mr. Bat will tire of his new sleeping quarters soon and I can reclaim the container.  I will admit that the idea of starting a new project has lifted the spirits and I am happy to say that the craft room is now somewhat organized.  (Time to not collect more craft supplies and, also, keep that cat out of there!)

Tiny Orb of Sap

   When out meandering about the place, I am always on the lookout for anything that has changed since the last hike.  With life as it is, entertainment has to be found in oddities instead of people.  I am good with that as I have long avoided much social contact.  I do not see the need for all the drama that comes with interaction with society.  I prefer to live my life with limited access to the "outside" world.  Occasionally, however, the need for new ideas makes me long for some sort of entertainment.   That is when I search the place for any oddity that can fill the imagination.

  Yesterday after finishing my chores, I trudged through the mud near the marsh edge.  Surely. my brain would be jostled enough by something besides mud!  Just as I was thinking mud was to be the high point of the hike, the sunrays hit upon a tiny speck on the pathway.  A spark of brilliant blue was to be seen on a gnarled root.  Hmmm...that was a bit interesting so, regardless of the knees of my jeans getting wet and muddy, I dropped down to inspect the tiny blue orb.

  Resin!  Or as we call it, pine gum.  Hurricane Zeta had obviously scraped a pine root bare and marred it enough to cause the pine sap to rise in a tiny ball.  This gum was now hardened on the outside creating the perfectly clear (although yellow as it was only blue by reflecting the sky) orb.  The sunrays were hitting it in the right position to allow me to see the reflection of the bright blue sky and surrounding oak tree tops in the orb's surface.  Ok, so that was fascinating!  

  The finding of the pine gum brought the brain around into a circle of things from how to remove the sticky stuff from clothing to needing to make some salve.  The salve is more important than fretting over a smear on the jeans so now the brain is in high gear of remembering the concoction...pine gum, oil, beeswax...hmmm...time to do some pondering and some searching for pine gum. I will need a good bit more than that tiny orb! Setting and keeping goals are good entertainment...at least for me.

Watching A Spider

   Well, one storm is behind us without ever making itself noticeable.  The weather was beautiful today with only one late rain shower providing us with some much needed moisture for the gardens.  I had hoped for a bit more rain but the "tropical system once known as Marco" played itself out without much ado.  Now we await the other which is predicted to be a tad (or a lot depending on who is forecasting) stronger.  We shall see.

  While out and about, I noticed a large spider in her web on the back of the shed.  I decided to pay her a visit.  As I watched her carefully remove a leaf that had become caught in her web, I had to think of how the spider had to be happy that a hurricane did not come.  If a small leaf could rip a hole in her web, imagine if a hurricane had whipped debris in on her.  As it was, she meticulously removed the silk from each part of the leaf then, literally, tossed the leaf free from the web.  It was amazing to watch.  Then, Ms. Spider went about her business of repairing the damage much like we would repair the Little Bayou House if it had received hurricane damage. 

The spider's five foot in diameter web was so intricately woven that it reminded me of the netting we use in catching fish.  How in the world did a spider have that much patience and finesse to spin such a creation?  It is funny how as humans, we tend to think we are so much smarter than any other creature.  Here, this spider with her eight legs created a web by using "building material" she formed in her own body.  Who of us can do that?  Each leg of the web is incredibly strong and has thousands of cross bands to create the mesh.  Even with multiple repairs, the web is beautifully made and functions remarkably well.  While I was watching her, a horsefly became ensnared and the spider left her work to go bundle it in silk.  Doing that kept the fly from damaging her web even more and also kept it in a safe place until she had the time to dine upon it.  Watching the spider almost made me feel insignificant and pathetically inept.  I stand in awe of her ability.

"Beeing" In The Right Spot!

  Early this afternoon, I found it far to stifling to sit inside so I escaped the confines of the Little Bayou House.  Outside, I could breathe!  After taking a few deep, lung-filling breaths, I fiddled around in the garden.  It felt good being out in the sunshine and cooling breezes.  While I am not one to complain about being home day after day, I do need my outdoor time!  What am I saying??  I stay on the Bayou about 99% of my time.  It is here that I feel safe, at peace and welcome.  I cannot say that about too many places.

  After tending to the tiny seedling tomato plants, I figured that I would sit on the steps and enjoy the view for a while.  These steps are directly in line with the pier so the scenery is quite exquisite!  It was not long, however, before my eyes were directed toward my feet.  Buzzing about the ground below me were a good number of bees...or wasps...or...something.  Time to investigate!

  In total, there were about 30 insects within a few feet.  Some were tiny but one large bee...wasp caught my eye.  A scoliid type wasp was crawling about on the board path as if searching for something.  She went from board to dirt and back again.  This wasp did not bother any of the tiny bees but found a small hole and immediately started digging.  I took the opportunity to photograph her up close and personal!  While I was busy photographing the wasp, the other insects kept right on digging their nesting sites.  Not once did any of them attempt to sting me.  In fact, the whole lot of them seemed perfectly oblivious of my presence.  

  Scoliid wasps have a rather unique..albeit morbid...way of laying eggs.  Instead of digging nesting site holes and providing paralyzed insects for their future kids, the Scoliid Wasp merely hunts for a beetle larva hole, digs it larger until she can fit, stings the larva to paralyze it and then lays her egg on its rear.  The larva remains alive but cannot move.  The wasp egg hatches and the wasp larva starts eating its beetle larva host.  If other wasp eggs are in the same larva,  the first one to hatch eats all of the other eggs before starting to dine upon the beetle larva.  Survival of the fittest...or first, in this case.

  I must admit that spending an hour or so watching bees and wasps gave me the fresh air and escape I needed.  Tomorrow, the yard work continues so the brain will not feel trapped.  Mother Nature can often find cures for our doldrums.  The entertainment is endless.

Just In Time To Say Goodbye

  The morning was met with a threatening rainstorm on the horizon so the pier visit was cut short.  Between the drizzly rain and the barrage of gnats, time spent on the water was short.  However, in the few minutes allowed, I found a few bayou friends had gathered nearby.  A dozen or so cormorants had settled in for the night and were just starting their morning feed fest.  Most of these were juveniles that still had their grayish-white breasts.  The birds were doing their usual "heavy swimming" with just their necks and very little of their backs above water. 

  Cormorants do not have feathers that repel water like ducks do.  Their feathers often become waterlogged causing them to seek refuge on pier posts.   There, they spread the wings and stand letting the wind and sun dry their bodies.  This heavy swimming does allow the birds to do well with catching their meals.  It has been said that having heavier bodies makes their diving easier.  It does not, however, make taking flight easier.  The birds have to do an awful lot of "water-walking" and wing-flapping to get airborne.  

  As I sat swatting gnats, I thought of how I am going to miss my friends. It is time for them leave the area. They visit here for the winter then head north to breed.  Once all of the migrating waterfowl leave, the Bayou seems a tad lonely.  At least, then, the gators and cottonmouths will be back to add a smidgen of entertainment.  There is never a boring day when you can find amusement in just about anything.  I do.

Fun in the "Pool"!

  I have finally taken the time to fetch the wicker chairs from the greenhouse where they were stored for the winter months.  After arranging them in the front yard to take full advantage of the Back Bay breezes, I plopped down to "test" them.  After all, we sure do not want "non-working" chairs!  From this point on, these chairs will be my resting spot after doing the daily chores.  It is too hot to stay inside and the breezes are too inviting.  It is also from this spot that I can view a multitude of wildlife that comes to the yard to feed or get fresh water from the birdbath.  The camera will always be by my side to take advantage of the steady flow of photo opportunities that cross the yard.

  During my first sitting, I was fully entertained by a male cardinal that came to enjoy the cool waters of the birdbath.  I keep an old jug filled with water propped in the bath so that the bowl is not emptied too soon.  With the spout of the jug under water, it does not drain quickly.   Only as the water is emptied from the bowl of the bath does the water slowly feed from the spout to refill.  It is sort of a "fill on demand" method that seems to work well at keeping a two day supply of fresh water for the critters.  Today, the male cardinal took full advantage of that bath.  At first, he splashed happily about in the water but, then, I noticed an unusual behavior.  The cardinal would fluff out its belly feathers, soak them and then take off to where Mama Cardinal was setting on the nest.  After a moment or two, Papa Cardinal would come back to the birdbath to repeat the process.  Both to and from, he was careful to not let on where the nest was located just in case a crow or hawk was watching.  The male cardinal followed this routine 6 times.  

  It seems that birds can indeed carry water in their feathers.  They do this so their mate or offspring can get life-giving water during the heat of the day.  In areas where water is scarce, a bird can carry the water great distances to provide for his family.  My little cardinal friend only had about a hundred feet to fly before he was home.  Mama Cardinal could sip the water from his feathers and he could shake his feathers to sprinkle the nest.  He is such a good daddy! Later, he will teach his little ones that fresh water can be found at the birdbath and my entertainment will continue.

The "Lichen Hike"

  Son often says that I am easily amused.  I admit to the fact that I can be intrigued by the most ordinary things on earth.  What others find mundane, I find interesting...so interesting, in fact, that I become completely engrossed.  Lately (with my hikes being shortened due to care for the old dog), my in depth investigations are limited to mosses, lichens and fungi.  These are easily obtainable due to our heavy fogs and copious amounts of rain.  (The Deep South is quickly becoming akin to a rain forest! Well, at least in the imagination.) 

  On a short hike to take the old dog out, I came across yet another beautiful lichen that had been knocked from the old oak tree.  It seems that the squirrels delight in pulling the fluffs from the limbs as they are used to line the squirrels' nests.  It is an interesting thing, when you think about it.  Squirrels are smart.  Lichens are on the squirrels' diet list.  When times get lean, they can eat their houses!  Not many critters can say that!  Anyway, back to that lichen, finding it sent me into another tizzy!  I need to be collecting these things as specimens for my greenhouse transformation come October!  I have already decided that for the clue hunt this year, the greenhouse needs to be covered in mosses but....what respectable swamp witch hut would be without lichens?  

  My interest in this particular lichen was how adorable each frond was.  When getting up close and personal with the lichen through the camera lens, I was duly impressed by the shapes and colors.  I found them pretty while one friend said they looked a lot like  "man-eating plants from a horror movie".  Well, maybe.  But, then again, I never found horror movies terribly horrifying so maybe I am mistaken.  Still, gathering the downed lichens has become a priority on my short hikes.  It gives me something to look forward to as the old dog does his business and then heads back to the house.  He waddles along the path while I juggle handfuls of wet lichens.  We understand each others idiosyncrasies so all is good.

Friends Stick Together

  I could stand it no longer.  Being cooped up is not for me.  I decided to brave the cold and take a good long hike about the place.  Mr. PJ, the old dog, decided to decline the offer of a two hour walk and preferred his cozy bed.  I, on the other hand, needed to escape the confines of the Little Bayou House and breathe.  I stoked the woodstove, closed down the damper and donned the jacket.  I was out of here!

  To kill two birds with one stone (as if I was ever inclined to kill a bird), I headed far back behind the house and into the woods.  Combining a hike and chores is always a good thing!  A couple of days earlier, I had spied some logs that would make great firewood.  Those were hauled to the house to be cut.  Then, I was free to head to the marshes and pier.  Not much was happening at the marsh edge but the mudflats by the pier were full of activity.  Five birds were feeding along the shallows and put on quite the show.  One Great Blue Heron, three Tri-colored Herons and one Snowy Egret performed an exquisite ballet while trying to catch small minnows.  The Great Blue kept his distance from the others but the Tri-colors and Snowy worked together to catch their prey.  It seemed that one Tri-color was particularly fond of hunting with the Snowy and never let much distance get between them. 

 

  The birds used a rather unusual tactic to flush the minnows.  They would sort of hop, skip and pounce instead of using a stealth approach.  All four of the smaller birds were using this technique.  One would spread its wings as if to take off in flight, make a mere "hop" into the air, land a few feet away and then bob for the kill.  The Tri-color and Snowy seemed to be collaborating their methods and sharing their take.  It was a rather unique experience to sit and watch this show.  

  The shorebirds are taking full advantage of the winter tides and are working the mudflats to their advantage.  With the low, low tide, the flats are extensive giving the birds a wider choice of hunting grounds.  They need this extra nutrition to survive the bitter cold that we have had this week.  It seems that the struggle for survival has made friends out of strangers.  Seeing the birds all working for a common goal sure made me wish that people would do the same.  No wonder I love my critter friends so much.

An Idea is Mushrooming!

  Son is always reminding me that I am easily amused and I guess it is true.  It took me a long time to get to where I am today but finally, I have come to a point in my life where "artificial" entertainment is not needed. I refuse to get another television, prefer not to talk on the telephone and actually do not listen to much music except around Christmastime. Then a bit of nostalgia hits and all of the "oldtime" Christmas carols waft through the Little Bayou House day and night.   Now, however, a good hike around the Bayou and to the creek suffices.  On these hikes, a never-ending barrage of fanciful things catch my interest.  Things that just a few years ago went unnoticed as I was preoccupied with "things I had to do".  I am glad that changes were made.  I am far healthier because of it.....both body and mind.  I have come to a certain harmony within myself so I find myself in harmony with the world around me.

  Just yesterday, Son and I were both enjoying a leisurely hike around the place when he pointed out a bright red mushroom.  He figured that I would seize the moment to investigate the beauty and lingered long enough for me to ooh and ahh over the magical, little mushroom.  It was gorgeous!  The morning dew was still adding a bit of shimmer to the bright red cap and a dozen or so make-believe tales were being conjured up in my brain.  With that, I find myself turning a bit into my grandmother or perhaps my Aunt Helen.  Both could come up with the most beautiful little fairy tales on the spur of the moment.  These tidbits of stories would enthrall me as a child and still bring a bit of fuzzy happiness to me as I age.  Now, I pass these tales onto the little folks that visit the Bayou. The tots of today are so wound up with artificial stimuli that the "Land of Make Believe" has about fallen to the wayside.  In a way, this is sad.  

  The little, red mushroom has inspired me to ponder more tales to put before listening ears.  To my way of thinking, imaginative play is far better than the bings and bongs of some irritatingly noisy toy of today. Face it, you are hard-pressed to find a good, old-fashioned toy at the store.  Gone are the toys that evoked quiet, imaginative playtime.  We are bombarding our little tykes from day one with rattles and bangs, jingles and jangles, booms and clangs.  Nothing....nothing requires any thought. So...the little, red mushroom will be an inspiration.  Kiddies that come to the Bayou shall be treated (or bored) with made up stories,  hikes, games like Hopscotch and jump rope, with fairy houses and rope swings.  They will have to use their imagination for more than pushing a button on a toy.  They will learn about bugs, birds, plants, animals and fungi.  We will collect rocks, leaves and lichens.  We will explore the Frog Pond, the creek, the marsh and the mudflats.  It will be fun....or maybe not...but at least I will have tried.  All of this because of a tiny, red mushroom!