What Is With Trashy People???

  I am amazed at how disrespectful people have become.  This rant is not directed to any of the stupidity going on today simply because I have become totally disgusted at the "poor me" society that has been pampered by everyone trying to be so politically correct (and to those doing the pampering.  Suck it up, people.  YOU are the problem.)  but is aimed at people who cannot even respect the world which we all share.  What is wrong with people???  You notice that I do not even call them "folks"...they are people.  Folks are kind. People seem to be just frustrating and I am just about done "peopling" for good.  I find myself respecting critters far more than most people.  I sure like them a whole lot more so it is only natural to respect them more.  In fact, most people don't have half the sense that critters do. 

  What started my frustration is the insolence of whoever is throwing invasive pond plants into the Back Bay.  This is far from mere ignorance.  This is stupidity at its worst.  Does anyone care any more?  What am I saying?  Obviously not.  While a lot of folks do not think twice about the water plants being in the Bay, I do.  These plants often grow just to the size and quantity of the pond they are in but, hey, toss them in a huge bay and guess what?  They grow to fill THAT "pond"!  So what, you say?  Well, that just creates a big, ole mess.  The native fish cannot breath, sea turtles become ensnared (if the plant is a vining type) and algae can now grow and bloom at a rapid pace.  Soon the bayous are clogged.  Then, the creeks pouring into those bayous are clogged.  Now...there is no place for rainwater to flow.  Get ready, folks, your sweet little yards will become flooded.  Oh, my....that means your cutesy, fish ponds are backed up with sewage since the sewers are flooded. Aww, poor cry babies...your pristine pond (where you just cleared your pond plants) now has nastiness bubbling up like some bilge pump.  Way to go.  Do not complain to me.  YOU threw the plants into the Bay.  YOU were too lazy to discard them in the proper way.  YOU did it to yourself.  So wipe your own tears and maybe do a wee bit of research before discarding your trash.

  A huge mass of pond plants floated under the pier yesterday.  Mark was kind enough to help me make my first hike to the pier in two weeks and what do I see?  A mass of plants about ten feet in diameter on one side of the pier and a big, roll of some type pond grass on the other.  Then, in the marsh...trash...trash..trash that probably came from the same trashy people who dumped the plants.  My faith in humanity has gone out the window.  I am so over it.  

Stopping by for a visit!

  Sitting on the little back deck of the greenhouse was the one place that I found a bit of breeze.  It was warmish and with a north wind, things feel a lot hotter here on the Bayou.  We love our good, strong Bay breezes. The north wind seems to just make the place hotter during the summer months. The slight breeze plus the shade of the scuppernong arbor made this the coolest spot in the yard.  Bad part was the bazillion or so mosquitoes that were buzzing about the place.  I was afraid that my stay would end before I wished.  As I was sitting there, a sudden thought crept into my brain.  "There is a snake around here somewhere."  Call it gut instinct, intuition, a premonition or whatever you wish, I can usually "feel" that I am in the presence of a snake far long before I see one.  Besides, snakes smell!

  Even though I was sitting down on the little deck and was surrounded by any number of snaky hiding places, I was more curious than frightened.  So I sat as motionless as I could considering that I was being eaten alive by those mosquitoes!  It did not take long before I spied my company.  There, next to the old oak tree, a long, slender snake quietly slithered among the palmettos. I watched for a moment and then slipped off the deck to join my friend.

  What a beauty!  This was gorgeous rat snake that measured in just about 4 feet in length.  It had obviously shed recently as its colors were still quite vibrant.  From my new perch on a root of the oak tree, the snake and I were within arm's reach.  After a few moments, I gently stretched out my hand until I was inches away.  Despite the mosquito swarm that decide my face was a food source, I, once again, remained motionless.  The snake would have to make the effort to come to me now. Curiosity finally got the best of the snake.  Slowly, slowly, it inched forward and then very calmly moved across my hand and onto my arm.  Aww, I was being hugged by a snake!  So many folks never get to interact with critters of this sort and they will never know the thrill it gives.  

  I grew up not fearing snakes.  Pop always said "Let the snakes watch out for themselves."  He was one that respected nature and taught us to do the same.  I am glad that I was brought up the way I was.  Life is good.

Chivalry Is Not Dead

  While we have all heard the common phrase "Chivalry is not dead." or its counterpart "Chivalry is dead.", have you ever pondered just what chivalry is and how in the world it died or didn't die (depending on who is talking)?  It seems now to refer to common courtesy and I have to admit, if that is the going definition, it definitely has died.  Common courtesy has leapt off the mountaintop and down into the gutters of despair.  It is gone, kaput or just out and out died.  

  The full definition of chivalry comes from the methods applied to knighthood back in the Middle Ages.  The Code of Chivalry consisted of bravery, military skill, generosity in victory, piety and courtesy to women.  Ok, so if you look at it that way, you can see that chivalry is indeed dead, gone, kaput or whatever else you wish to call it.  Sorry, not many folks can honestly say they are chivalrous.  A handful of gentlemen may fit the bill to a T but most others cannot come close. 

  Recently, I have noticed that while the human race lacks a good bit in this area, there are some pretty chivalrous critters around here on the Bayou.  At least in the avian world, chivalry is not dead.  It is alive and well and being practiced on a daily basis.  While their ladyloves are on the nest, a good many male birds stand by to protect, feed and even offer a serenade to help pass the time of day.  A male cardinal will go out of its way to bring food to his ladylove.  On extremely hot days, the male cardinal will even wet its feathers to help cool Mrs. Cardinal.  He dotes on her in every way possible all the while standing guard.   The male woodpecker will roost within a short distance of the nesting hole that his ladylove has chosen.  He drums out a warning to other woodpeckers that this is his territory, brings bugs to his wifey and will attack crows that try to steal the eggs from the nest.  The male redwinged blackbirds are territorial, as well, but will band together if need be to drive out snakes, raccoons, cats and humans.  One call is all it takes for the army to reunite from their respected lookout posts. They guard the nests protecting their wives and babes from danger.  So goes it with most birds.  From the tiniest wren to the gigantic eagle, the males usually are highly protective and respectful of the females. Chivalry is not dead.  Not at all.  It has just moved to the critter world for the most part.  

  Just the other day (with the passing of another elderly friend), someone made the remark that "Gone is the day when men were real men.  Gone is the day when respect, kindness, generosity and bravery were common attributes.  The world was a better place back in the day." I agree that the world would be a better place if only more young people were taught these traits. I can say with all honesty, however,  that the menfolk here are just as chivalrous as those from days past.  The hubs, both sons and son-in-law all show respect, bravery, piety, generosity and are highly skilled.  It makes me proud.  Chivalry is not dead.

Noisy Eaters

  Guests, here on the Bayou, generally show a great deal of respect.  I suppose I just do not tolerate it any other way.  Even back when the kids were younger, there were set rules.  I did not actually "state the rules", they were more or less "understood".  There was one particular incident that occurred with Son's friends.   A newcomer to the bunch was met with each of the standard bunch relating a "rule" to be welcome at the Little Bayou House.  "No drugs or alcohol allowed!" said one young man.  "No cursing!" stated another.  "Share and share alike!" could be heard from one.  "Be respectful!" was next. This went on through each member of the regular crew until it came to the last kid.  There were just no rules left for him to instruct the newcomer so he made one!  "Hug Mom whenever you come and again when you leave!"  Well, now!  That was a pretty good rule!  (And, yep, most of these teenagers at the time called me "Mom".)

  But now there are a few "guests" that have left all respect behind when they visit!  They are loud, squabble constantly, eat all the snacks and do not clean up after themselves!"  For the past few nights, I have listened to four young raccoons that have been raiding the oak trees on the west side of the house.  These oaks have large limbs that reach out over our rooftop so nightly, the critters can be heard squabbling over which limb is the best.  Once they settle down to eat, the racket changes to acorns pelting the rooftop.  A steady rapping that sounds a lot like large hail often wakes me from deep sleep.  This goes on all night until the sun starts to rise in the east.  Rap, rap, rap!  Acorns can be loud on this roof!

  This morning, I checked the ground on the west side of the house and found that not only are the raccoons loud, they are quite wasteful! Thousands upon thousands of plump acorns litter the ground.  I am assuming that once the trees are pilfered of all the nuts, the raccoons will start squabbling under the windows as they fight over the best acorns on the ground.  At least they will be fat for the winter!  They just need to learn a bit of respect!

Why Kill It?

  I guess living on the Bayou has presented me with so many opportunities to interact with critters that I have learned to respect them. Not respect them out of fear but respect them merely as lifeforms that deserve to live just as much as I do.  I observe.  I learn.  Critters are smart and have developed methods that work to help them survive when the odds are against them.  I hate it when people are the biggest threat against most critters.  Humans will be the death of all lifeforms soon enough so I figure there is absolutely no reason that I should hasten it along.

  One of my biggest peeves with folks is their mentality that the "only good snake is a dead snake".  People!  People!  What are you thinking? Sure, I will be the first to admit that if a cottonmouth is adamant about living right at my front door or in my laundry room, it has got to go. If it refuses to move (swiftly) down to the marsh, it will be (sadly) killed. If it stays in the marsh or away from the house, even a venomous snake can go about its daily business with no fear of being clobbered by me. All nonvenomous snakes are welcome to linger around a bit.  I am actually happy to have them in the garden or yard.  Killing snakes just because they are snakes is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard.  Folks do not even care to identify a snake..."KILL IT!" is the only thing on their brain.

  I was sad to hear that today one of my friends did just that.  A sweet little snake ventured onto her patio and the entire group of her friends went berserk.  The critter never stood a chance.  Afterwards they had the thought to ask for an identification.  Turns out, the snake was a southeastern crowned snake and is an especially good snake to have about the place.  They never get very big and eat all sorts of things like centipedes and termites.

  I am so proud of my kids. While they were just young'uns, I tried to teach them about respect for critters...snakes included.  They grew into awesome adults who would never dream of harming an animal.  I must say that they are good folks and it does a mother's heart proud!  Just recently, my daughter's dogs were having conniptions in the yard.  She went out to investigate the cause of their uproar and found a snake. Instead of panicking and reaching for a hoe or shovel, she calmly brought in the dogs, took a picture and tried to identify the snake.  Yep, it was a harmless plain bellied watersnake.  No need to worry about that one!  She did exactly what she was supposed to do.  Reaching for that gardening tool to attack the snake could have been met with a nasty strike had this been a venomous snake.

Watersnake that my daughter found in her yard.  The snake was allowed to go on its merry way!

  This is not the first time that Elizabeth "did the right thing" regarding snakes.  Even when she was a small tyke, she came to tell me about a snake in the garden.  While picking squash, she found a cottonmouth under one of the plants.  She came out of the garden and calmly informed me of the moccasin.  (Yep, even at that age, she had learned to identify a cottonmouth.)  We managed to shoo the critter from the garden where it was invariably trying to catch its breakfast.  Funny part about that tale is that she still managed to pick the squash from the plant that was covering the moccasin!  She knew....and the snake knew, that there was no reason to overreact.

  I did make an attempt to teach my sweet friend about the snake she found on her patio.  Did it sink in so future snakes will not be needlessly killed?  I doubt it.  Most folks do not want to hear that snakes can be friends.  All they want to hear are things like "Its a cottonmouth!  Kill it!"  "That is a copperhead!  Kill it!".  They do not want to hear "It is a southeastern crowned snake.  It is good to have in your yard.  Let it live!"  That bit of information is usually met with disdain.

  Yep, I am sure proud that my kids have learned to respect life...all life and treat critters the way they are supposed to be treated.