Just Keep On Doing

   You know, folks, sometimes you just do.  That nasty virus has hit the Little Bayou House.  So...I just do.  I am trying my best to avoid it.  Most likely, that will be in vain, however.  It seems to spread through everybody whether precautions are taken or not.  So...I just do.  In fact, it has been double doing for the past week.  The cleaning, disinfecting, laundry, cooking, housework, yardwork, taking care of the sick, taking care of the cat...everything...just do.  Needless to say, I am tired.  Needless to say, being exhausted, the virus will probably find its way to me.  

  This morning when Bat, the cat, woke me with his gentle nose boops, I figured it was time to escape.  After my coffee and his breakfast, the cat and I headed outside...at 5am.  It was still dark when we first headed to the pier.  I welcomed his company as we sat in the cool air watching a lightning storm over the Gulf. For a cat, he makes a pretty good hiking buddy!  We sat there for nigh on an hour until it was light enough to wander the hillside.

  It was on the walk back up the pier when I was awestruck by a rather bushy weed.  In a few weeks, this bush will be covered with golden flowers but, this morning, the rising sun sent it into a golden glow.  Either I am starved for entertainment or this was a sign that I could keep going.  If a weed can survive in the marsh and look that glorious, then who am I to give in to circumstances.  I walked away from the pier feeling much better than going down it.  In life, it is all how you look at things and that weed was mighty pretty.  I will keep doing.

"Seeing the light?"

   Being back on doctor's orders to "be lazy" (to let a torn muscle heal), I feel rather useless.  I tinker around trying to prove to myself that I am still active. There is not a lot I can do.  So...at sunup, I pretend to "work" in the garden which usually amounts to picking a few tomatoes.  I "tend" to the flower gardens which means I spend more time talking with the plants than actually doing anything.  I mosey around acting like the farm girl.  Finally after all that "work" is done, I head inside to home can the fruits and veggies that Son helps me pick.  THAT...I can do!  Canning is not strenuous so, at least, I have that!

  This morning's early morning escapades took me to Puddle Pond in the Small Gardens.  I had intentions of picking the last few blueberries but the birds had beaten me to them.  Well, since there was not much else to be done here, I decided it was in my best interest to "sit a spell" on the tiny footpath bridge that spans Pebble Creek.  (For those who do not know, both Puddle Pond and Pebble Creek are parts of a glorified drainage ditch that runs down the edge of the Little Bayou House and catches the rain runoff.  This was my way of "beautifying" an otherwise ugly, washed out place.)  As I sat listening to the the water sliding over the pebbles, the sun started shooting beams through the tree limbs.  One beam settled nicely on a water hyacinth bloom and totally enthralled me. 

  While thoughts of being useless rattled around in the brain, the sight before me set things straight.  If a lowly invasive plant bloom could bring joy, then surely I could find some purpose in my day.  That thought set the wheels twirling!  What would be my goal for today...other than letting the body heal?  I felt immensely better.  I WOULD find something and go from there!  Thank you, Mr. Sun, for letting me see a clear path!

Light Explosion!

  Well, our first day without fog nor rain and I cannot make it outside for a hike.  I was busy cleaning house starting at 5am.  You know...gotta have that house tidy just in case somebody shows up for the holidays.  The fact is...if you clean house, nobody will come.  Leave it messy and everybody and his brother will make an appearance.  Maybe that is why I cleaned....ulterior motive...no guests.  But, still, the sun peeped out and made things outside bright and merry.

  Just as the sun was peeping over the tops of the pines near the marsh, I was vacuuming the living room rugs.  I looked up just in time to see the sunrays shooting through the window where my crystals hang.  Oh, my!  While there was nary a rainbow dancing on the walls, the golden light exploded through the crystals.  A golden aura engulfed the room like never before.  The camera was within reach so I snapped a few photos before the sun shifted.  Golden rings, shooting rays and red orbs were captured.  The unusual image sort of speaks volumes about my mood this holiday season.  I will make it...I will make it.

Crepe Myrtles and Sun Beams

   You can tell that I do not leave the Bayou much when I start marveling over what others simply overlook.  A tiny mushroom, water droplets on a leaf or even the "perfect pine cone" can send me into a frenzy to grab the camera.  I have no idea why I photograph everything around here since after I am dead and gone, the pictures will most likely be "dead and gone", as well.  Others do not seem to be enthralled by these simple things.  I am.

  This morning, it was the way the sun's rays were filtering through the crepe myrtle blossoms.  The backlit bloom was almost mesmerizing to me.  A soft breeze gently swayed the cluster of blooms causing the light to almost dance.  Of course, that morning sun brightened the already hot-pink blooms making them seem like pink fire.  Yes, the imagination was in high gear as I sat in the old wicker chair, drinking coffee and swatting mosquitoes.  So goes life on the Bayou.  

Looking through the storms...

  Ok, so being limited in where and when I can go is about as bad as being fully quarantined, as far as I can see.  I feel tethered to the Little Bayou House, and while I love my place, I am about to go stir crazy!  I want the freedom to roam the marshes, creek bed and woods.  I want to watch the sunrise from the pier.  I want to feed my heron friend.  I want to traipse the hillside.  But...that is not happening, at least for the next two months.  Folks, stop your whining about having your actions a bit curbed by the pandemic.  What freedoms you have can very quickly come to a halt.  

  At daybreak, I was in the kitchen making coffee when I noticed that it was not raining (yet).  Thinking that the sun might just be trying to give us a glorious horizon, I peeped out the back door.  Well, it was NOT raining...but the sun struggled amongst the clouds.  Then!  It peeped through just enough to set the world aglow!  And....I was stuck to the confines of the Small Gardens.  Well, there was nothing to do but make the best of it.  

  The pathway that wanders on the north side of the house was fully overgrown by the citrus trees, nandina bushes and a few errant wisteria vines.   Since all yard work has come to a screeching stop, everything is vastly different than just three weeks ago.  Still, this leafy bower was gorgeously lit with the sunbeams that filtered through the oak trees.  This gave even the darkest green leaves a golden hue.  I could not help but wander here.  (Yes, this is allowed in my list of rules.)  A slight rain started to drizzle down upon me but it mattered not.  I could not pry myself from the path.  Going back indoors seemed to be a horrible fate at the moment when such mystique was surrounding me!  I ventured onward and soon came to the deteriorating vegetable garden.  It saddened me to see it in such condition.  Had I only the strength...

  From the southern most corner of the vegetable plot, I was able to peep over the grapevines to view a small portion of the Bayou.  The sun was doing its best to provide me with my much sought after sunrise.  The golden glow from the citrus trees had spilled over onto the calm waters.  My mind drifted off to other sunrises...other morns...seemingly eons ago.  Will I ever be able to return to those days?  Hopefully, hopefully.  In the meantime, I shall continue to find happiness wherever it may be.  

Something Different

  Most of my photographs are strictly of the flora and fauna of the Bayou.  Mother Nature provides the settings and I just point the camera.  Until recently, nothing has been staged.  If my photograph had a grasshopper sitting atop a frog, it truly happened.  (Yes, there is that actual photo on the blog and if you wish to see it, go to this link.  https://msbayoulady.blogspot.com/2016/09/in-real-world-frogs-eat-insects.html )  But like I said, recently, I have "staged" a few experimental photographs.  

  This morning as I was meandering through the gardens, I noticed a handful of stones in the birdbath.  It is my habit to place pretty stones there as I find them.  The water washes them clean and causes the stones to sparkle.  The birds do not seem to mind the extra perches in the bath so all is good.  It was those stones, the rising sun and an old piece of driftwood that gave me a bright idea.  I placed the driftwood on the ledge of the arbor and balanced one of the stones on top.  Shoving the wood over to where a tiny sunbeam came through a small nail hole in the arbor wall, I, then, positioned myself behind the stone.  Wow!!  The pink stone was gorgeous! The sunbeam flowed through the nail hole and lit up the stone!  I tried another.  Yep, same results.  Absolutely stunning!  

  Who knew a couple of dirty rocks, an old piece of wood and a bit of light could create something like this?  Not me.  (Keep in mind that these are no special stones but are just finds in the gravel of our pathway.)  I have always taken the "lazy" approach to photography and let things just fall into place as they may but, now, ideas are flowing!   Then again, maybe this is a "sign of the times" that I am getting too old to be traipsing about in the marshes and mires of the Bayou in search of things willing to be photographed.

Mother Nature's Red, Red, Rubies!

  Have you ever noticed that being in the right place at the right time can afford you some pretty remarkable sights?  Take, for instance, this evening my sweet sister-in-law called me to check out the gorgeous triple rainbow.  Well, being as she is on one side of the Bay and I on the other, I could not see that rainbow.  I figured it was for the viewing pleasure of the folks over that way.  I was not disappointed, however, since it gave her some much needed enjoyment.  

  The other morning, I was out hiking just at sunrise.  The path I chose took me right along the marsh edge under the large oak trees.  Just as I was making a turn to head toward the creek, a bright bit of glittery red caught my eye.  Mother Nature had left her jewelry dangling on a shrub in the marsh.  The beads had evidently been there all night since they were covered with dew.  The sunbeams coming up over the pines caught the prism-like dewdrops and made the beads glisten at their brightest.  Thank you, Mother Nature for leaving your precious jewels out so I could catch a quick glimpse of them!

  The beads were none other than the bright red berries of the yaupon tree.  Right now, they are about the only thing of brilliant color left on the marsh.  The yaupon trees do not mind their roots being in the brackish waters.  They set thousands of berries that will eventually be feasted upon by the cedar waxwings that come to visit the area.  In a matter of hours, every berry in the marsh, creek and on the hillside will be eaten.  The hungry birds will fill their bellies after a long migratory flight.  They come here in search of food and will not be disappointed.  Mother Nature provides for all....food for the birds and beauty for my viewing pleasure.

The Bottle Captured the Sun

  Some days you just have to shirk your chores and take a hike.  I have been sanding, painting and generally redoing the entire living room for the past three weeks and it seems the job is getting bigger and bigger.  One thing leads to another and now it seems there is nary an end in sight.  So, the best thing to do is walk away for a bit.  The old dog and I hiked far down into the creek and then back around the woods for a good couple of hours. He had to stop several times for a rest but that was fine by me as it gave me time to photograph whatever caught my eye at the moment.   The sun was starting to slide down behind the pines before we headed back to the Little Bayou House.  With a chill in the air, he was happy to be close to his warm, cozy bed.  He trotted off to sit near the steps as I had to take just one more picture!

  Years ago for the "Clue Hunt on the Bayou" (our annual fun time in October), there was a need for a bottle tree.  This was an easy prop to erect so it was stuck down in the front yard.  Now, several years later, the bottle tree is still in its place.  That is not so spectacular in itself but the way the late afternoon sun was gleaming through the blue bottles was quite striking even though it was never meant to be a thing of beauty.  It was nothing more than a long forgotten clue hunt prop.

  It is funny how something that you see every day of your life can take on a new appearance just because of the lighting.  That old saying about being in the right place at the right time is true.  It takes a special moment to see a mundane object in an whole different way.   My bottle tree became mesmerizing purely by happenstance.  This evening, it was sort of pretty in a weird way.  Tomorrow, the bottle tree will, once again, become something that I should have removed long ago.

Shattered....

  I have been told that I see things a good bit differently than most folks.  I tend find beauty in the oddest things.  This comes from the artist hiding deep inside of me.  I am fascinated by color, shape, form, lines, anything that can be found lurking in whatever is at hand.  The way a catfish's skin glistens with iridescence, the shape of a cicada's eye, the spiral of a pine cone...all of these things intrigue me and make me wish to copy and preserve the image.  Sometimes...it happens and I get the image that satisfies my mind's eye.  Other times...things go awry and I shake it off and say it was not for me to recreate something so perfect.  

  We are in the process of doing some much needed repairs to the Little Bayou House.  Time, critters and hurricanes have taken their toll on the place and the renovation can be delayed no longer.  One of the items that needed to be replaced was the front door.  I will miss my old door!  But...already, the new (or rather old) ones feel like they belong.  I say "they" since the new door is a set of antique French doors that were given to me by my brother.  He just happened to have them and I just happened to need them so everything worked out perfectly!  The only problem with the doors is what only I can see as a thing of beauty.  The center pane of one door has been shattered.  Either a rock or a gunshot caused a tiny, perfectly round hole and an entire "spiderwebbing" of the glass. I know it will have to be replaced but, for now, I will marvel at the glistening piece of art as the sun shines through it.

  This morning, Son looked questioningly at me as I photographed the broken window pane.  Perhaps he thought I was "measuring" for a new pane or something...or perhaps he fully understood what I was seeing.  He, too, has a quirky artistic sense about him.  After a bit, he calmly stated that he would change the pane for me as soon as he finished installing the doors.  I responded by "I am in no hurry."  To which he replied..."I know."  He understands and will let me enjoy the beauty I find in the broken glass for a bit longer.

The Window of Opportunity

  The window of opportunity is fleeting at best.  Whether we be hunting for a job promotion, a true love or merely the perfect lighting for photography.  That "window" closes fast and things can be lost forever if one does not act immediately.  My windows deal more with photography and the lighting can be tricky at times.  As of late, pop-up thunderstorms can change the sunlight needed when hiking about the Bayou.  When photographing wildlife, it is often best not to use a flash as it frightens the poor critter.  

  Yesterday afternoon, we had another torrential rainstorm complete with high winds and lots of lightning.  Afterward, however, there was that window of opportunity when the sun was setting behind the pines that left the Bayou bathed in a wonderful glow.  But, that glow was fading fast and a lone egret that was standing in the shallows would soon be shrouded in darkness.  My vantage point was pathetic as I was halfway up the hillside when I saw the bird.  There was no getting closer as the nearer the marsh I got, the lower I went until the brush and marsh grass obscured my view.  I had no choice but to photograph the bird from the hilltop.

  Of the several photos that I took of the egret, two pleased me.  The first has the bird framed by foliage of the yaupon trees and is washed in golden hues.  The other is after my window of opportunity passed and darkness started falling on the Bayou.  While most of the surroundings are darkened, the bird gleams in the last rays of sunshine.  

  While I may not be considered to be a professional photographer with great skills, it does not matter to me.  I am recording the Bayou as I see it.  Later on, my grandkids may wish to learn how their grandma spent her time in such a rustic place. There is so much I wish I could show them but their time spent on the Bayou is minimal. Hopefully, some of the photographs will explain a bit of why I love this place so much.

That's why....

  The other day, someone asked me why I get up so early.  I have a tendency to rise before the sun and make my coffee. Then, that cup of coffee is enjoyed as the sky starts to brighten in the east.  Why do I get out of bed so early?  I have no definite answer.  I just do.  Then again, maybe I have more than one answer.  I suppose if you stop to think about it, this could all be Pop's fault.  Back when I was just a kid on the farm, we were rousted out of bed when the roosters crowed.  "Time to get up!" Pop would call as he started cranking on that old wall-mounted coffee grinder.  (That thing made enough noise to get anybody out of bed whether they wanted to or not!)  Pop knew that there was a lot of work to be done and he needed all five kids to be up and ready to work at an early hour.  You are just not lazy on a farm!  Now, however, it is not the chores that awaken me.  I have this built-in alarm clock that seems to sound at a predawn hour.  I just cannot sleep!  So, I am up and ready to go as soon as I down the first cup of coffee. 

  Personally, I love the way the sun casts shadows on just about everything as it is starting to peep between the pines.  I see things that most never experience.  The way the light filters through the trees, illuminates the palmettos or causes fungi to almost glow never seems to disappoint me.  I am like that proverbial "kid in a candy shop" as I can always find something to delight the senses.  

  I love to hear the birds as they start to chirp their happy calls and I love to hear the last yelps of the baby fox as Mama calls them back to the den.  I love to see a dragonfly stretch its wings for the first time as it transforms from nymph to flying beauty.  I love to find fresh berries or other fruits as the morning dew glistens making them look like jewels. I love the smell of the earth that has just been refreshed by the coolness of the night or the sweet aroma of gardenias (or magnolias, jasmine, roses, wisteria..you name it!) as the buds begin to open.  I love the coolness of moss under my bare feet or the bite of frost on my nose depending upon the season. 

 I just love morning...early, early morning  I love the peace, the calmness, the solitude.  It is "my" time of the day.  My time...made just for me...my time to revel in all of the Good Lord's magnificence.

Afternoon Peace

  So Thanksgiving came and went.  It was quiet and we had far too much food prepared (just as I thought we would.)  The meal was eaten without the usual chatter and giggles that accompany large crowds. There was no crowd, large or otherwise.  My two days of work ended with more work as I tried to stash the huge amounts of leftovers in the frig.  That was just not working well!  I do believe that next holiday will see me getting a headcount before the cooking begins.  This was ridiculous.

  With the afternoon empty, I decided that Ms. Ez, the Bayou Dog, and I needed a hike.  There is nothing like a bit of fresh air and a loyal dog to clear the mind.  She and I roamed about the hillside looking for anything interesting.  She sniffed and I peered at anything that moved, wiggled or flew.  She, also, sniffed anything that she found on the ground...I did not.  I did noticed that the nandina berries were bright red and waiting to be plucked by the Cedar Waxwings if they make an appearance this winter.  The clusters are thick and will provide a hearty meal for the birds after their long migration.  Mother Nature was thinking about her critters.  She filled most of the bushes with berries and the hickory trees full of nuts.  The winter on the Bayou will pass with very few hungry bellies this year.

  Once the old dog and I reached the lane that heads out from the Little Bayou House, a sight brightened the day tremendously.  The setting sun beamed brilliantly through the trees and gave the entire pathway sort of an "otherworldly" feeling.  It never fails to intrigue me how sunlight plays among the leaves and dapples the ground with shadows. I stood in awe for a bit until the free-for-all broke loose.  Ms. Nycto and Ms. Put had a misunderstanding over whose yard it was and Ms. Ez decided that both cats were in the wrong.  The big, old dog lumbered through the fallen leaves to dispel the ruckus that the cats were creating.  Ms. Put, the Bayou Queen, had sense enough to lay low while Ms. Nycto, the interloper, barreled around back.  This caused Ms. Ez to become needlessly excited and she gave chase.  So much for my peace and serenity.  I retreated to the greenhouse to recapture whatever calmness I could.  Let the critters fend for themselves!