The months of September and October find the Little Bayou House in a great disarray. This is all due to the annual clue hunt. Whatever the theme is for the year dictates what the house looks like. This year being a pirate and nautical theme, the house has anchors, compasses, telescopes, sails and a actual sized ship's helm. It is that helm and wheel that is the centerpiece of the hunt. When Son built it, he created a huge internal combination lock that has to be "cracked" for the teams to proceed to the next step. It is, also, that helm and wheel that held my attention for a good while this afternoon.
For the past several days, the weather has been quite stormy. The clouds blocked out the sun and made the Little Bayou House dark and dreary. Late this afternoon, the clouds broke and the setting sun peeped through just enough to brighten the windows. The helm sits in front of the french doors. The sunshine gleamed through the stained glass on the doors and made the wheel into the perfect silhouette! What a dreamy sight to behold. So many of my favorite things were all smashed together in one picturesque setting. So...I dreamt. Daydreaming is good, right? I dreamt and it threw me into a faraway place, if only for a few moments. I was a magical pirate sailing the seas! Pirates of the Bayou all have stained glass windows on their ships! Yes! Mystical, magical pirates!
There are times that the Bayou presents me with things. These items come from parts unknown and are washed in on high tides. Let a tropical storm or hurricane whip in here and the trove is quite unbelievable. One never knows what will be found in the yard. These "treasures" are often mostly trash that needs to be discarded but occasionally a true "treasure" is found. After hurricanes, I have found furniture, household items and tools strewn about the property. A lot of it is beyond repair but there are pieces that can be restored to be useful. Trust me when I say, I am not so high and mighty that I will not use the stuff. I have. We were always taught that it is purely wasteful to not at least try to repair and reuse items.
The past week has brought some odd weather to the Bayou. A tropical storm hurried through only to meet up with a cold front coming down. Mother Nature's whims sent things into a bit of a turmoil. Not much was hurt in the wake of this but a few things were tossed around. No biggy. Then, we were bombarded by the system that sits on top of us now. This one is "no biggy" either but it gave a bit of wind and copious amounts of rain...and is still giving us rain. Last night, one squall gave up a "treasure".
Early this morning, I carried the old dog out to do his business. While I was headed to his favorite spot, I noticed something strange. A beach ball had obviously flown in on the wind. While this is not overly unusual, the spot where it landed and became lodged was. Son built a "brig" or jail (of sorts) for the clue hunt. Since the hunt takes place on an uninhabited (almost) spot, the pirates that were shipwrecked supposedly had to use what material was on hand. The brig is created out of reed fencing and canes from our huge canebrake. Somehow, that beach ball was tossed inside of the brig! Now, the only thing that remains locked in our jail is a faded beach ball that came in on a storm.
Strange tides bring strange things. The treasure trove of oddities continues to grow with each storm that surges across the Bay. For now, the ball will remain in the brig. There is one team left to compete in the annual hunt so we shall see their reaction to something so out of place it is hilarious. Will they think this is some odd clue? Or will they realize that Mother Nature played yet another trick on us all?
