Morning Friend

  Early this morning, I had to wait a few minutes for Mark to join me for our daily fishing on the pier.  While he was putting on his shoes, I decided to sit on the front steps.  The arbor surrounding the french doors is the perfect place to grow shade loving plants so either side of the steps is a regular rainforest of plants.  On one side there is a large turmeric plant, several philodendrons and a couple of ferns.  On the other is a gigantic split leaf philodendron, some hostas and a couple of unknown plants that seem to love shade.  All of this greenery flanks the steps and is topped by several hanging ferns.  Sitting on the steps made me feel like I was sitting in the local nursery!

  Being as it was still early morning,  I had not checked out the yard.  Any critters that had come in from the marshes or out of the woods could very well be lingering about the place.  Suddenly, I had that eerie feeling that I was being watched.  Hmm, something had been drinking water from the Puddle Pond.  In fact, it was nigh on dry each morning.  We figured the family of deer were seeking fresh water since the area has been in a bit of a drought, as of late.  Maybe a couple still were hanging close?

  Sitting quietly, I scanned the area.  Nope, did not see a thing.  Still, the feeling of being watched was heavy.  Ok, so nothing was out in the gardens, it was time to look closer.  A small cottonmouth was under those very same steps about a week ago.  The darkness was not helping with my search but, soon, the peeping tom was found!  Right at my elbow was a tiny tree frog!  That big, ole, split leaf philodendron was the chosen spot for the frog's daytime resting.  I just happened to plop myself down right next to froggy!  Its, ok, Froggy!  You are welcome to live among the plants as you do a fine job of keeping them bug-free!  We are good.

Long Leggedy

"From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-leggedy beasties

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!"

  I remember Grandmother reciting the little Scottish prayer to me when I was just a tot.  We would sit on her front porch in the big old rocking chairs and listen to the owls and other creatures of the Bayou.  (My grandparents' home was not far from where the Little Bayou House sits now.  It was exciting for me to hear what all was in "their neck of the woods" compared to the old farm place which was just down the road.  From the front porch on the farm, we heard the farm animals as they settled in for the night, the hundreds of bullfrogs in the large pond and the occasional owl but from my grandparents' porch, bull alligators could be heard drumming, owls abounded and bobcats, raccoons and even some unidentified beasties could be heard!  The two porches were a world apart even though as near as a half mile together.  Front porch sitting was a nightly pastime, back in the day, and the lack of it is probably what is wrong with the world today.  Things were at a slower pace back then....and that was good.

  But the long-leggedy beastie today was a three inch long spider.  Down in the marsh near the pier, there is one spot that is devoid of marsh.  This makes for the perfect spot to moor the little skiff but is also a favorite spot of a lot of predators that hunt for breakfast,  The spider was busy all night weaving a huge web that spanned the pool.  It had feasted on termites, gnats and mosquitoes during the night but this morning, it was hastily trying to retrieve its web before the sun rose high in the sky.  

  It made me wonder how the spider felt secure enough to spin its web out over the water.  Any number of things could go wrong for the spider.  A fish could easily reach it, a shorebird (such as a heron) could inadvertently destroy the web and even high tide could present a problem.  The spider was brave and persistent.  By night, the spider ruled the pool by catching any smaller critter.  By day, it hid and tried to evade being the prey.  That long-leggedy beastie was pretty smart.  It had its supper and was on its way to rest up for the next night.

  While I was entralled by the noises made by the beasts of the nighttime Bayou, I am certain that Grandmother kept mum about the small, silent beasties so as to not frighten a little girl.  There was a certain air of mystery about the larger ones that could be heard from a distance but those sneaky, quiet little ones that could possibly be crawling up the back of the chair may have been a bit much!