Mysterious Photographs!

   Growing up, I had it drilled into my head that usable items should not be discarded.  "You had better keep that as you may need it some day."  Yes, this has resulted in a good bit of stowed "may need" things but often they do, indeed, come in handy.  I have found that it is far wiser to reuse items than to buy new just to avoid clutter.  I guess since I do a lot of remakes for the clue hunts (which will hopefully happen again this October!), my stash of saved items is more of a logical aspect of how to create without cost.  

  Yesterday, I was cleaning out our toolroom when I came across a box containing old...really old...picture frames.  Thinking the frames were wonderfully pretty, I set them on the table with the idea of reframing some photographs that were in more modern frames.  The antique ones fit the look of the Little Bayou House far better than anything new.  Later, I noticed that two of the frames had a faded blue paper where the picture should go.  I took the frames apart only to find that behind those pieces of paper, there were two very old photographs!  Wow!  How long have those been hidden...and....why?  

  The first photo is of a lovely lady with a very handsome dog.  If I had to guess, the picture was probably taken around the early 1900's (judging by the lady's dress).  I really have no clue as to who this lady is but simply adore the mystery surrounding her!  There are a few scribbles on the front with U love in bold.  I cannot make out a name unless...U. Love is it?  Doubtful.  The other frame held a photograph of a rather handsome gentleman and appears to be around the same era.  Although the picture is quite faded,  it does have a name!  J. H. Enochs is written on the back but nary a date can be found.  I do know the Enochs were quite a prominent family in Biloxi, MS.  I found information on Byrd Enochs (1875-1940) and his wife, Cora Elmer Enochs (1878-1962) but not J.H.  I wonder if J. H. was a brother of Byrd's?  Cousin?  

  Now I want to dig through the other piles of frames and see if any have hidden photographs!  The mysteries of the Little Bayou House deepen!  How, why and when??  How did I come in possession of these photographs?  When were they actually taken??  And, especially, why were they hidden?  (My guess on that is to maybe prevent the pictures from fading over time...maybe not.)  So...finding treasures hidden inside of treasures is exciting and I really should investigate more!  Also, think about it...had I thrown the frames in the trash, a bit of history would have perished. 

  

All About Timing

   With all of the hullabaloo going on around the nation about the "Ring of Fire" eclipse, I was pondering just how many photographs would make it to the social media scene.  Granted, I am on the "few friends" list but there were more photographs of people watching the grand event than of the spectacle itself.  This actually pretty much impressed me!  Normally, the whole newsfeed would be filled with the same pictures of a "half-eaten" sun but, other than a handful of photos taken through strange filters, the streaming was pretty vacant.  So...I could not help myself but throw the photograph that I sort of halfheartedly took.  In reality, I had not given the even much thought.  My gardening was of more importance to me than what the sun was doing, at the moment.  Still, when I noticed strange shadows on the garden pathway, I grabbed the ever ready camera and snapped a few photos.  One stuck out more than the others. 

 

  Of the four photographs I took, one was "at the right time, right place".  Without my even noticing a falcon flew within the camera range.  I was happier with the bird in the photo than the others of just the eclipse.  Keep in mind, these were taken with an 18yr old camera, no tripod, no special lens and no special filter.  How did I achieve the shot without damage to my camera (and eyes)?  Well, Mother Nature came to my rescue.  Right as the eclipse started to get interesting, a thick cloud covered the sky.  The previously bright blue sky turned gray and overcast thus blocking out the brilliance of the sun.  That cloud cover lasted just about 20 minutes then poof!  The skies were blue again...but I had my pictures.  So...the eclipse has come and gone but I have a pretty cool photograph to document it!

Don't Worry! It Is Just A Cloud! Maybe?

   It is strange how we sometimes look at things and see beauty then can see something entirely different when we try to look back at the same object.  Just yesterday, the clouds in late afternoon sky appeared to frame the hidden sun in a perfect manner.  I spent several minutes photographing the clouds as I was enthralled by what was set before me.  The magnificent view was enough to leave me spellbound for a good ten minutes until the wind shifted and sent my lovely vision askew.  Nothing could prepare me for the photographs that I viewed today.  What popped out at me was not what I saw yesterday....not at all.

  In the photographs, I found a face with deep set, hollow eyes and a rather horrified looking grimace of a mouth.  What?  This was not what I saw at all!  Thinking perhaps it was just a quirky incident, I looked at the other photographs...yep, just the same.  That face was still staring at me as if it was trying to tell me of some terrifying incident that was to come.  Do the clouds know something?  Are they harbingers of what is to come with the pending storms potentially heading our way? Should I be worried?  

  Life has a way of making some of us ponder things far too deeply.  I can live for the moment in most circumstances but, occasionally, I get a gut feeling that usually bears truth.  These clouds, however, are just that...clouds.  

Oops! I Goofed!

  I am probably one of the few diehard folks who still use an actual camera.   Other than professional photographers and those "self-proclaimed" wannabe photographers, most folks use the camera feature on their phones to record everything from what they ate for breakfast to what pair of shoes they are wearing for the day.  I have yet to learn how to use the phone camera so I stick with my 13 year old, heavy as lead camera.  It suits me fine. 

  Occasionally, however, I find photographs on the camera reel that are not familiar.  Whether I accidentally snapped a picture or whether the subject of interest merely flitted, swam or bounced out of the frame remains a mystery.  Sometimes, the picture is of a wall.  Just a wall...nothing fancy.  I figure those are accidents.  Surely, I had no great intentions of photographing a bare wall.  Then there are pretty cool looking photographs of some tree, limb or marsh grass, etc.  Those are the ones that probably had some sort of critter that meandered out of the range when I took the shot.

  Today, I found such a find photograph.  It is of a dead branch.  Admittedly, it is a nice dead branch but still a dead branch.  I was a bit confused as to why I took the picture but, after a bit, I recognized the spot.  Recently, a gardenia bush took a notion to die.  The bush has been removed but its memory lives on in the form of this photograph!  The bush's legacy will always be with us!  (It will remain until I delete the photo.)  This one can probably be chalked up to the pair of cardinals skipping out of the photograph. The limb was one of their favorite spots before I cut the shrub.  At least, that mystery is solved...maybe.

Old Mr. PJ and the Daily Photograph

  Social Media is a wild place.  It can be a good way to keep in touch with friends and family.  Folks post photos of kids, vacations, meals and pets.  I mainly post pictures of the Bayou, critter friends and fish.  I also post a daily photo of the old dog, PJ.  Mr. PJ was left in my care by my son, daughter-in-law and my grandlittles.  Just before they left to go to live on the island, my little granddaughter asked me to send her a daily photo of her doggy.  "I am sure going to miss PJ." she said.  That brought tears to my eyes as I was just having the same feelings about her.  "I am sure going to miss my sweet Mary Ruth and Mark Charles."  I promised, then and there, that I would send her a photograph of her beloved friend, Mr. PJ, EVERY DAY and I have since that day.

  Social Media can also be a cruel place at times.  There are those who post far too much personal junk which they instantly regret.  There are bullies, fake friends and those who just straight up are mean.  But, then, those folks are the same way anywhere and everywhere so I try to not let it get to me.  I did, however, take exception to one rude remark.  While I am not offended as they have every right to say what they please, I admit that it did take me aback a bit.  Someone told me that I was posting "way too many photos of PJ."  They thought I should stop since it did not please them.  Ha!  Nope.  I made a promise and it is one I intend to keep as long as I am able.  They can overlook the photos, close their eyes or even "unfriend" me. Who cares?  Not me, that is for sure!

  I would drop the whole Social Media scene if it were not the only contact that I have with my grandlittles.  I miss them so very much and cling to every photograph that is sent my way.  It is hard to be a half a world away from family.  I guess I grew up in a time where family stayed together and I had dreams of having my kids nearby.  It did not happen but at least with technology, we still have a connection.  Mary Ruth and Mark Charles,  MawMaw will always send you pictures of your doggy.  He and I miss you terribly!

Fungi Fields!

  As I am writing this, we are in the midst of yet another thunderstorm that is dumping a torrential amount of rain down upon us.  The roar of the water hitting the rooftop is almost deafening.  This type weather has ruled the summer making things seem a bit soggy around here.  Over the past four months, we may have had ten days without rain.  Today appeared to be one of those days but as night fell, so did the rains.  For nigh on the past hour, It has been pouring nonstop and there seems to be no let-up in sight.  We are in for another long night of high winds, lightning and inches of rain.  Thankfully, we live on a high hill overlooking the Bayou.

  Just this afternoon, Mark and I noticed that the hillside was quickly turning into a mushroom farm.  As far as you could see, thousands of the fungi were dotting the ground.  In just a small area, I found about thirty different types.  Big ones, tiny ones and every size in between...red ones, white ones, tan ones, brown ones, spotted ones...you name it, we have it.  In fact, some of the mushrooms even have mold on them so it is almost like two for the price of one!   Yep, that is a lot of rain!

So, while we are being inundated with rain, I decided to take advantage of the mushroom fields and get a few photos.  All of the above photos were taken in a small area of the yard in less than five minutes.  There were tons more but the old dog decided that he did not want to be a fungus photographer so we headed back inside.   I am not sure of any of their identifications but they are interesting!

 

It Ain't Happenin', Folks!

  At the urging of several friends, I have been doing a purge of the Little Bayou House.  It had gotten to the point that it was about to explode with stuff!  I promise.  I have been purging.  Slowly.  It is not my nature to chunk stuff in the trash haphazardly.  I do it methodically.  Each and every item is sorted as to "Keep" or "Trash",  It is easy to toss things that I never use.  Those are an instant toss.  It is easy to toss new things. Yep, I am weird like that.  But it is nearly impossible for me to discard some of the weird and wonderful treasures that fill the house.  Ia ain't happenin', folks.  Forget it!  Nope.  No way.  My weird things stay.  They are a part of me and, no matter what others think, these treasures stay put.

  Today, I was laid up a bit.  The knee was giving me fits after being on the 10 ft stepladder for hours and then pushing the lawnmower for several more hours.  Things have to be done and I am not one that likes to ask others for help. I would just rather do the chores and be done with it.  Anyway, all of this lolling around gave me time to, once again, adore one of my treasures!  An album of old family photos has endeared itself to me for several reasons.  First, I adore the album itself!  It is a celluloid cover with an adorable little girl in a flower painted on top.  The thick pages are held tightly with a lovely brass lock on the side.  The workmanship is incredible! Inside is the other reason that I adore the album.  Dozens of antique photographs of family members are being protected from wear and tear by the album.  These family members were from the time when little boys wore dresses (until they were about 4 years old), families were large and little girls posed by huge pieces of furniture!  It makes me happy to flip through the album and admire the dresses of the elegant ladies and to see the debonair gentlemen in their suits.  In short, I just love this weird and wonderful treasure.  So it does not get tossed the wayside.  Later, if my kids wish to destroy it, that is their prerogative but I am not living their lives nor are they living mine.  The album stays.

  Oh, did I forget to mention that, although the album is filled with family photos, they are not my family??  In fact, I have no clue just who these fine folks are, but, then again, they are someone's family and need to be loved.  The album has been around here for so long, these dear folks have become "like" family, so there it is! Tossing it ain't happenin'!

Oh, the things I do!

    I was not feeling up to par this evening.  Hard work caught up with me and I had sore muscles.  After pushing a lawnmower for three hours this morning plus doing a lot of painting, my shoulders hurt, my legs felt like a ton of bricks and I was dead tired.  Then, my brother's sweet girlfriend sent me a message that Dear Brother wanted me to take a photograph of the full moon tonight.  Well, I did what was requested of me.  I got up, slipped on my shoes and headed down to the pier.  Just for Dear Brother, I braved all sorts of monsters!  I mean, my goodness!  There could have been ghosties, ghoulies and long-leggedy beasties out there!  Not to mention a cottonmouth.  Still, I went.  I took the photograph and came back to the Little Bayou House.

  After I got back inside, I realized that this was the night of the Blue Moon....actually the last Blue Moon of 2018.  Well, that was special!  So, I needed more photographs for Dear Brother.  That said, I did not really want to go all the way back down to the pier but I got a brilliant idea!  With all of the work being done on the house as of late, we have a set of scaffolding set up on the south side of the house.  Well, perfect!  I opened the window and climbed out onto the scaffolding!  Perfect view of the brilliant moon!  Of course, anyone who may have seen me climbing out the window may have thought I was nuts but I had to get a photograph of that moon!  By this time it was almost an obsession!  

  Needless to say, now that I am back inside, the body is being racked with aches and pains....BUT!  I got that photograph for my brother!  Oh, the things I do....for my brothers!  I sure hope they appreciate their baby sister!

The Silver Lining...Maybe?

  Early this morning, Mark and I headed to the pier to do a bit of fishing. He was actually going to use the small skiff but I was staying behind on the pier.  I want to be able to head to the house if the fish are not biting. There is just far too much to do in the garden to sit lollygagging about if I am not catching lunch.  All was well with the morn.  It was a beautiful day opening and I was enjoying the slight northeast breeze...until...Mark opened the live-well of the boat and found that he had inadvertently left a few menhaden there overnight.  Not good...in fact, bad or even terrible!  The things had died and had become quite rank in the humid air.  Ugh!  It was bad enough that the boat smelled like a garbage heap but, then, he scooped said little dead fishies and tossed them into the water.  UGH to a greater extent!  Now the whole place smelled like a city dump!  STOP!  I called to him.  Move on away from the pier before you toss any more dead things!  He did and I thought all would return to normal.  It did not.  The minnows were quite swollen and they bobbed along the ripples like little buoys.  Each bounce released another malodorous spew of stench into the air. Double ugh!

  At the time I thought that I could not stand the reeking dead fish bobbers any more, a seagull came to my rescue.  Down swooped one bird and it scooped up a mushy, stinking-to-high-heaven minnow.  The bird was the envy of all gulls and terns that eat dead things floating on the surf.  Several squeals later, another gull dove to fetch its own putrid fish.  Well, at least they were cleaning the water (and the air).  One after another, the birds dove after the minnows giving me the perfect opportunity to snap a few closeup photographs.  

  Once I settled down enough to observe the pictures that I had taken, I realized that the stench that ruined my fishing trip was not all bad.  The rising sun as a backdrop and birds diving just a few feet from my camera lens provided a perfect setting for some excellent photographs. The morning turned out well,  I got great pictures and the birds feasted on putrid fish.  Sometimes things we deem as bad do have silver linings.  We just have to look for them.

Just too good to skip!

  I admit that I probably take far too many photographs.  I am never without my camera handy and the poor old thing gets a good workout every day.  Picture after picture is taken.  Some I keep.  Many (most) I toss.  However, every now and again, I come across something here on the Bayou that is just far too perfect to skip.  The photograph can only be described as "Picture Perfect".

  

  A lot of folks "stage" photographs.  They will place certain items in among the area to make the picture more appealing.  When photographing wildlife, flora or fauna, it is hard to maneuver things to give that result.  You take things as they come.  Then, there are times like yesterday which proved to be the picture perfect moment...the perfect setting...perfect lighting...all things appealing.  The morning sun was casting a beautiful glow on my little friend!

  I was out painting the north side of the house when I noticed that a water lily was blooming in the Frog Pond.  While a picture of the lily would have been beautiful enough, add a bit fauna in there and it suddenly becomes an ideal opportunity.  My little froggy friend decided to hop right up on the lily pad to have his image recorded along with that of the flower.  How neat was that?

  Later, I went back to capture the lily fully opened but Froggy was missing.  Thank goodness for wonderful timing!  Oh, and I did not play in the Frog Pond all day!  I did finish my painting job!

 

One and the Same...Yet, Entirely Different

  I take a lot of photographs.  In fact, I have been told that I take far too many photographs.  I think not.  Each picture is something personal even if it is of the Bayou Cats, a bug or even merely a photograph of the horizon.  Each means something to me.  I especially like to peruse each picture with "a fine-toothed comb".  While doing this, I sometimes find things that "accidentally" become part of the picture.  In the past, eagles have made their way in pictures of sunsets, snakes in photos of waterlilies and raccoons in photographs of persimmons.  Sometimes the unintentional picture is better than what I thought I was taking.  Then there are the photographs that are just thought provoking.  Ones where you can get lost in the depth of the surroundings.  

  A recent photograph of the sun setting in the west was one of the more thought provoking ones that I have come across in a long time.  The almost spiritual depth of the scene sent me in to deep contemplation. With the layers upon layers of clouds in front of the fast sinking sun, the few pine trees seem almost desolate.  How many millions of miles can be viewed in that one picture?  How many layers of clouds float between that last bit of blue and the viewer?  How amazing is the Creator to have granted me the vision?  Ponderings upon ponderings flitted through my brain.

  The sunset in question also allowed me to take another almost eerie photo.  In this one ethereal rays reflect off of the camera lens fabricating fantastical "beings" that dance on the water.  Orbs float mystically off to one side while irises glisten among the upper clouds.  This is the type photograph that bounces the imagination into gear and lets me form wild tales in my head. Otherworldly images can be seen in the mind's eye with the least bit of effort and the sudden dots of color amidst the dark shadows call the  mind into the inkiness of the night.
  
 One sunset, two photographs....yet a million ideas.  This is how my brain works.  Do I take too many photographs?  No...it keeps my brain jolting at a mile a minute.  I need that.  Sometimes, we all need that.

The Fish Eagle

  This afternoon when Mark and I were returning from the pier, I noticed a large bird in the top of a dead pine tree.  The tree sits across the Bayou and had been struck by lightening a couple of years ago.  It still stands well above the surrounding trees and allows any bird a grand perch for viewing the marshes.  From the distance, I could not fully identify the bird other than knowing that it was large, dark and had what appeared to be a white head.  Could this be the eagle that I see occasionally in the area?  It is a known fact that we have a pair nesting each year somewhere in the vicinity.  I could not be sure.  The "white head" appearance may have been just a play of light on the white feathers of an osprey;  I needed to get closer!

  Mark patiently hiked around the marsh edge and down to a place that I could get a better view.  He knows that I am adamant about photographing most everything that lives (or visits) around the Bayou. This bird was no different.  Once we settled on a suitable area for a clear shot, I took numerous photographs still not being able to identify my bird.  I knew that once the pictures were added to my computer, I would be positive of the bird's true self!  

  If I had only waited a bit longer, I could have saved us a bit of tromping through underbrush, though.  We were only in the house a few moments when I heard the distinct call of the osprey. While I am a bit disappointed that I did not get the "perfect" shot of our neighborhood eagle, I am pleased that the photographs show a gorgeous osprey.  The bird is comparably regal, though perhaps not as elusive.  Besides...it is an "eagle" of sorts....it also goes by the name Fish Eagle

Perhaps if I stare at it long enough!

  While cleaning the other day, I found a bunch of those little disposable cameras that my daughter used on school trips and such.  (This was back before every kid had a phone with a camera.)  She had taken tons of pictures then and later during college.  The cameras had gotten shoved in a box and the film never was developed.  Mark took the cameras to the department store for developing so we could see just what was on the film.  Not much.  There were lots of photographs of kids doing goofy poses and some of a Christmas here about a decade ago. At the time, the acts probably seemed to be grand enough to be recorded for posterity but now seem sort of silly.  I am not sure my daughter would ever recognize some of the folks in the pictures and, well to be honest, some are better out of her life.  She has come a long way since that time and it is one of those "let bygones be bygones" type thing.  Still there were a couple of pictures that interested me..or at least the artist in me!

   Three of the photographs (by most standards) would be rated as failures.  Something definitely had gone wrong while the picture was being taken.  Either the lighting was bad, there was a great amount of movement or perhaps, being cheap cameras, there was a glitch in the film.  Who knows?  Anyway, it was these three that caught my interest. They are fascinating!

  Back around the same time that these photographs were taken, there was also this craze involving "Magic Eye" pictures.  These were sort of optical illusion prints that, at first glance, seemed to be just a page filled with dots or some other repeating pattern.  If stared at long enough and in just the right way, a 3-D image would suddenly loom out of the picture.  The three photographs remind me of those fanciful patterns.  No, I do not see any 3-D images jumping out at me but still all of those tiny dots of color should make up something! The top two seem similar but the first one has some weird, white splotches and a red dot while the second one has a streak across the bottom.  The last one seems at least a bit different! I have decided that these three photographs are quite priceless! No, not one of the photographs amount to any value monetarily but the cost of developing film these days is outrageous!  Mark and I are now the proud owners of almost $90 worth of useless, worthless and even unexplained photographs. Wow!  Perhaps if I stare at them long enough...maybe?  At least they are colorful!