A Handy Stairway?

  On the stroll to the pier this morning, one of the groundsel bushes seemed a bit off.  Several of the main stalks were bare of leaves and had what appeared to be a hefty growth of oyster shells going up the side!   Nope, not oyster shells at all but a type of mushroom.  The shelf mushrooms had formed a virtual "ladder" up the tree trunk as if to give an easy escape from high tide for any faeries that may live under the pier.  I figure that is probably a good thing since we do not want our pier faeries trapped by high water!

  Actually, this is not the best news for the groundsel bush.  When this type of mushroom is seen growing on the main trunk of any tree, it is quite a dire situation for that tree.  These usually only grow on dead or dying trees. Even if they are found on a live tree, somehow that tree has been weakened to the point that it is about to die.  The mushrooms are sort of Mother Nature's cleanup crew as they slowly draw any nutrients they need from the dead tree causing it to decay much faster.  In a weird sort of way, I find that a comforting thought.  At least, the tree did not die in vain.  Life goes on in the form of the mushrooms.

  As I walked passed the small shrub, I reached out and snapped off the tip of the branch.  Yep, the bush had already died.  Happily, the other shrubs seem to be healthy and happy.  They soon will be covered with the groundsel bush beetle larvae and many other insects.  This will cause the birds of the area to go into a feeding frenzy on the bushes.  Marsh life...only for the hardy.

Steps to Nowhere...

It is amazing to me that after this long, I am still finding things from Hurricane Katrina.  Items are being uncovered either as we clear new spaces or are being uncovered by Mother Nature herself.  Back a few weeks ago, I noticed that behind the Peach Orchard, a side of a stairs was rotting away in the creek.  The storm surge had plopped the nine step riser there nearly eight years ago.  It was just one of the many such items that came from homes across the Bay.  Some as far away as the Front Beach which is on the other side of Biloxi from us.

Today, when Mark and I were on one of our hikes about the hillside, we stumbled upon a recently bared object.  It was the matching riser to the nine step one in the back of the house.  This one however lay out in the marsh.  It had not gotten as far as its mate.  For years now, it lay snagged in the marsh and with the recent high tides and extremely potent southerly winds, it was laid bare.  I photographed the stair part and pondered just where this piece had originated.  Some of the items that floated in were easy to identify.  Books with nameplates, purses with identification cards and even parts of vintage homes came with their own calling cards.  ( Identifying the homes came by way of a book of architectural pieces from vintage Coast homes.)   This stair riser had no easy identification tag.  Still, somewhere, a home was demolished and the steps made their way across miles and miles of water to be washed inland on our property.  Perhaps once these belonged to some beautiful home but now, the steps lead nowhere.  In a way, it puts storms in a weird sort of perspective.  Steps to Nowhere.  This is exactly how a lot of folks felt after the storm..they were taking steps to nowhere.  The Coast lay in despair. Most of the homes were in shambles as is obvious of the riser in our marsh.  Steps to Nowhere..just where do you turn when everything is ripped from your grasp..when your world is suddenly turned topsy-turvy? .....You turn to God and to each other.  You take steps..baby steps..to somewhere..anywhere.  You rebuild..you start over..you take steps forward.  This is exactly what Biloxi and surrounding areas did..we moved forward.  Yes, we look back.  We would not be human if we did not.  But our goal is in front of us so we step forward and keep stepping forward.  The "Steps to Nowhere" are reminders but are also inspiration pieces.  It just takes time.