Stargazing!

   There is a lot of talk about the "Christmas Star" making an appearance this year.  This is a rare alignment of planets and will not occur again for many, many years.  In fact, the last time it happened was supposedly some 800 years ago.  On December 21st, Jupiter and Saturn are to align where they appear as a single "star".  I have plans (weather permitting) to take a peek at this phenomenon!  In the meantime, however, I am purely satisfied with the miracles of the "stars" that we all take for granted.  I am appreciative of their beauty and often stand mesmerized with my eyes skyward.

The sun over the Bay!

  Lately, our days have been overcast.  Heavy cloud cover makes it difficult to view anything but...clouds.  Thick black clouds block out the sun during the day and any "nightlights" after dark.  A couple of days ago, though, the sky was brilliant blue with a few fluffy clouds drifting across the horizon.  I was helping Son carry pier planks down the hill when I noticed that the sun was doing some pretty remarkable mimicking of a star shape!  Of course. it was being filtered by the oak leaves that still were laden with raindrops from the night before. It mattered not.  The beauty was there, I HAD to photograph it...work ended.  

  All said and done, I take far too many photographs.  Once I am dead and gone, I am sure nothing will ever be done with the pictures. This one, however, is a reminder of the upcoming event!  Don a coat, get outside and take a look!  If the weather permits, it should be quite interesting!  Happy "Star" gazing!

Half-hearted Attempt

  So...Mr. Sun refused to make an appearance yet again today.  Well, he tried but the attempt was obviously not strong enough.  The morning started as heavily overcast and it set the tone for the day.  Drear!  Normally, I do not mind what the weather throws at me but, today, I had plans.  I wanted to get that lawnmower out for the first time this spring.  The place is starting to look a bit rough around the edges.  But...I cannot cut grass in the rain!

  Along about 10am, I ventured out to collect the cat.  She had wanted out at daybreak but with the ground being rather wet, it was not a good idea to leave her out.  Being a long haired cat, she manages to get the worst hair mats by dragging that fur around on the ground.  She was eager to come inside so there was no long search.  As I was turning to go back up the steps, I noticed that half-hearted attempt of Mr. Sun's.  It was interesting merely because of the position of the sun from my point of view.  The sun sat squarely atop of the old dying black gum tree.  With the grayness of the sky, the blackness of the tree's silhouette and the brightness of the feeble sun, this all gave me the impression that I had a new lamppost!  

  Maybe the sun's absence was needed today simply to give me a new perspective on things.  That "lamppost" made the drear all worthwhile.  From that point on, I could deal with the day.  So what if the yard resembles a rainforest at the moment...I could not mow.  Life got in the way.  I'll take it.

Good Morning, Sun!

  Eons ago, my oldest son had a little book that he absolutely loved!  I did, too, as it was an easy teaching tool.  He started "reading" the book at the early age of three!  Or so I thought.  Since I read the book to him daily, he had picked up on the core words and then memorized the whole book.  "Sun Up" is an excellent teaching tool for those who wish to help their little ones learn to read but, as a word of experience, be careful that they are actually reading!  My little fellow proudly told me that he could read the book and I was astounded to hear him go through each page without stumbling over a single word!  Amazing!  Three years old and he was reading!  Nope, he was reciting from memory.  Which, in its own right, is astounding.  A three year old with the gumption to memorize a story is something else again.  I was just as proud of him for that feat!

  The book came to mind this morning as the old dog, Mr. PJ, and I were headed to the pier.  Just in the edge of the marsh were few daisies blooming.  The sight of the bright yellow blossoms brought a smile to my face but photographing them proved difficult.  The daisies were all facing the east and the only access I had to them was from the north or west.  It took a bit of climbing in the marsh to get my picture!  But then a thought....did you know that most flowers face the sun?  When the sun is rising, the flowers face the east but as the day progresses the blooms follow the sunshine until at sunset, they face the west.  Perhaps you have noticed but do you know why?  In a sense, the plants are smart.  Flowers are the part that produce seeds to make new plants.  Without pollination, the seeds would be no good so the blooms depend on bees and other insects to pollinate them.  Insects do not have a method of keeping warm so they seek out warmth where they find it.  If a flower is facing the sun, its face will be nice and warm.  Not only will the bees flock toward the warmth, the sunshine also heightens the scent of the bloom which calls more insects!  Pretty clever, Little Daisy, pretty clever, indeed!  (If you look closely at the bottom photo, you will see that one little honeybee was already hard at work!)

It Is That Thick

  The other day, a cousin from out of state made the remark to me that I had to be exaggerating about the fog.  "It cannot be that thick." he stated with quite an air of insistence.  "Fog lifts before midday." again with a little bit more emphasis that he knew what he was saying.   Well, folks, if you have not lived on a bayou in the Deep South, do not go telling us about winter fog.  It is a real thing and we deal with it...sometimes all day...sometimes for days on end.  Fog!  Thick pea soup fog that shrouds everything and lays a dampness to every nook and cranny of even the tightest of houses.  The wood floors in the Little Bayou House stay sticky and dust clings with more of a vengeance to the damp furniture.  It makes you just want to stay inside where at least you remain somewhat drier than if you went traipsing around the hillside.  Mr. PJ and Ms. Nycto (the dog and cat of the place) have decided that the best way to endure the weather is to nap continuously.  

  Yesterday morning had particularly dense fog.  The sun did not poke its face out until well in the afternoon.  The whole Bayou seemed to be cloaked from the outside world.  Not being able to see what lay beyond the marsh, I felt a bit isolated.  The old dog hung a bit closer when we headed back behind the cane to gather firewood.  Instead of his usual romping and exploring, I think he felt the need to protect me from unseen foes.  

  The fog did make for some interesting photographs.  When nothing else can come into focus, those figures nearest stand out strangely beautiful.  Mundane things such as the tangled smilax vines dangling from a bay tree became the perfect frame for the fog-masked sun.  To me, this is intriguing.  To others...it is probably rather boring.  Still, it does show the density of the fog as this photo was taken about 10 am.  So, Dear Cousin, it really is that thick.

Hauntingly Beautiful

  Words like "hauntingly beautiful", "chilly", "eerie" were used to describe photographs of the sunrise over the Bayou this morning.  While I am not sure of the chilly or eerie, the hauntingly beautiful pretty much hits the nail on the head.  The sunrise was just that.  I awoke before dawn, made coffee and stepped onto the back porch to enjoy the peace and quiet.  A heavy fog shrouded much of the hillside and thick clouds raced overhead.  Those clouds parted for a moment and gave me a glimpse of the rising sun.  Wow!  It was time to hurry down to the pier.

  Once there, the sunrise did not disappoint.  Between the fog and cloud cover, the brilliance of the sun was reduced a great deal making it look more like a full moon rising on the horizon.  Darkness still lingered even though the sun was rather high over the pines.  Hauntingly beautiful.  I could not have said it better.  Thanks, Ann, for putting the beauty into words.  

The "Smoke Screen"

One thing about those "controlled burns" that the Forestry Department does just north of us is that it makes for some interesting photographs. The other day, when the smoke thickened over the Bayou, it gave a golden glow to the clouds hanging in the noonday sky.  The smoke acted sort of like a filter to the sunlight and blocked out most of the brilliance. This was the first time in several years that the smoke from the burns did not give a "star" effect to the sun.  Instead, it just looked like a big, white ball and the clouds, though darkened, were golden.

  While standing there looking at the sky, my oldest brother and I both had the same thought.  The smoke hanging in the air reminded us of the "look at the eclipse through a smoked glass" directive that we were taught way back in grade school.  At that time, it was deemed safe to peer directly at the sun (or eclipse) if you did so through a piece of glass that was covered in soot (or smoke) from a candle.  Another way was to use a piece of undeveloped film.  Well after generations hurt their eyes by "following the rules", it came to light (pun intended!) that these methods were not safe!  Imagine that! It seems that basically, if you wish to check out the sun, you need some special equipment or a welder's mask.  I figure that I am ok without looking directly at that big ball of fire.  I let the camera do it for me.  Point and shoot.

  Back to the weird sky, though!  The smoke continued throughout the day and into the early evening.  Then, it disappeared as quickly as it came.  I know the controlled burns are for safety reasons and I appreciate the men and women who make the effort to protect us so I tolerate the smoke.  There were times back on the farm when we did the very same thing to the fields that had become overgrown.  Pop would set backfires to burn trails through the grass before setting the full field afire.  There were also times that he would intentionally burn through crops to protect the barns and farmhouse from woods fires that were quickly bearing down on the old homeplace.  As kids, we were all armed with pitchforks and wet burlap sacks to beat down the flames.   It is crazy how things have changed.  Farm kids had to do a lot of things that kids nowadays would never dream of doing.  In a way, I think it was to my advantage.  I learned a lot of things from these experiences.  Things that are probably going the wayside now.  Things that a lot of folks will never experience.  

That Big. Ole Sun

  The day started with white out fog.  There was not a thing to be seen at daybreak other than pea-soup thick fog.  Once that "burned off", heavy clouds blocked out any sunshine.  The day was dark and damp but oddly cheery.  I am one of those weird folks that loves a dreary day!  As the day wore on, the clouds grew thicker and thicker until the rains started just before nightfall.  I did manage to find one bit of the sun through all of this, though!  And what a big, ole sun it was!

  It is funny how some photographers pride themselves in taking shots of the "huge" sun or moon.  I have seen photographs that make the orbs look as if they are about to smack the earth with a vengeance!  In these pictures, the sun (or moon) dwarfs buildings, trees or entire landscapes.  I used to envy these shots and wish that I had the "know how" to recreate them.  Well, it is not that hard....obviously!  The sun (or moon) actually DOES dwarf these items!  The art of giving the illusion all lies in the size lens that you attach to your camera and the distance with which you place yourself from the building or whatever is in front of the sun. Also, it helps tremendously if you can "crop" out a good bit of the surrounding area. Simply put, it is all in perspective.

  The shot I took of the setting sun this evening was not that phenomenal.  It was just the sun trying to break through the clouds.  I do not have one of those super strong lens, so the sun was just being the sun.  However, when I cut out a good bit of the background and left only the pine tree in the middle, the sun took on that gigantic look!   But, then again, that orb is gigantic compared to anything else so my feeble attempt at trying to make it look massive should have just been avoided. Let the sun be its big, ole self and leave well enough alone!  

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

  Put that in your pipe and smoke it! That would be the attitude of the officials if I had nerve to complain but since I don't, I just have to live with it.  "It" being smoke and all of the grime that goes with it.  Up north of here, the forestry folks are in the midst of doing their "controlled burns".  Large spans of grassy fields and even some wooded areas are burned in the name of controlling future fires.  I can see the sense in that...I suppose...but it still does not help matters here nor does it help the thousands of critters that are rousted out of their snug homes in the midst of winter. No one thinks about the rabbits, fox, mice, bobcats and other critters that make nice snug dens.  Yep, they are all out of a place to live now that the land has been scorched.  Out of a home, if they survived at all.

   Still, that is not my gripe for the day even though my complaint seems petty compared to what the animals must be feeling at the moment. It seems that every time there is one of these burns, we happen to have a north wind.  This makes all that nice smoke and ash float down my way. I was out minding my own business, in my own garden when I was literally coated with ashes drifting down from the sky. Ashes in my hair. Ashes on my clothes.  Ashes on my freshly washed laundry on the clothesline. Nice. (And, yes, I am being sarcastic there..it was far from nice.)  To make matters worse, this ash was falling on things that were still wet from a heavy fog this morning and on my wet towels.  Nice.  (See, above...sarcasm is a grand thing.) 

  The only good thing that I found in today's smokiness was an interesting sun.  Mid afternoon saw the sun being shrouded by the smoke.  It was thick enough to create an almost surreal atmosphere. Where the day should have been bright, it was darkened with a reddish brown haze.  Although this was rather interesting, I do hope this is the last of the controlled burns for this season.  

Things find me!

  I have had several folks ask me how I find so many interesting things without ever leaving the Bayou.  It is my belief that I do not find these things.  They find me.  Then, there is the other possibility.  Everyone else might see the same things that I do if they spent as much time outdoors as I do.  There are only so many phenomena that occur inside four walls.  Outside, the chances of happening upon something intriguing is not a rare occurrence. 

  After I finished all of my inside drudgery, err, chores, I headed out to do a bit of gardening.  The 140plus cabbages are all starting to head so one more round of nourishment was needed.  (Now, I just have to sit back and wait!)  My time spent outside also saw me raking some more of the downed leaves.  These things just won't quit!  Ms. Ez bounced in my piles as I raked.  The old dog still has a good bit of puppy in her, I do believe!  All the while, I kept smelling smoke.  Far up north of here, the Forestry Department was doing a "controlled" burn.  The thick smoke invaded my space dropping ashes on me.  I knew to keep checking the sun as this blanket of smoke could set up an interesting view.  Sure enough, just about two in the afternoon, I noticed it.  The smoke was passing between me and the sun making everything quite unusual.  I had seen this before so knew just what to expect.  I hurried to get my camera.

  As the cloud of smoke thickened, the sun started looking more and more like some fanciful star.  Time for a few pictures, I thought!  While snapping photographs, I wondered just how many folks were actually seeing the beautiful sky.  This would only be seen for a few moments and then will be gone.  Yep, if you don't get up and get outside, Mother Nature cannot share her beauty with you.  Even smoke and the sun try hard to amuse us.