Down here on the Bayou, we are told to watch out for many "invasive" critters and plants. It seems that waterways are an easy way for invasive species to get a foothold. While I have not found but two invasive critters (a Cuban frog and a Brown Anole), plants are a different story. Often, these plants are washed in on the tides. The plants are usually discards from someones gardens and goldfish ponds. Plenty of folks use no commonsense when it comes to properly disposing of plants. "Throw them in the Bay" seems to be the brilliant idea of many folks. Hey now!!! Those pretty water plants can soon clog waterways and create all sorts of problems for wildlife. They also deplete oxygen from the water and literally suffocate a lot of critters. I try my best to fish out the offending plants and either find them homes in another landscaped pond or destroy them. That is usually easier said than done, however, as I have no way of scavenging the entire shoreline for misplaced plants.
Along the shoreline, there are dozens and dozens of one particular invasive species. The popcorn tree or tallow tree has strewn enough seeds about the marsh to make a regular nuisance of itself. This fast growing tree blooms and then bears thousands upon thousands of seeds each summer. By late fall, birds, squirrels, rats and coons are all feasting on those seeds. Well...what goes in must come out and the seeds have been transported to a new growing spot via poop. There seems to be no easy way to eradicate such a prolific species. So...quickly spreading and fast growing has me pondering something. Does tallow tree wood burn nicely in the fireplace? If suitable, I would have a ready source of wood for the wood burning stoves! Not a bad idea, if I do say so myself! A bit of research is called for here.
This morning, the rising sun was beaming across the Bayou and onto the tallow trees across the way. The trees were putting on quite the extravagant show with their long, golden tassels. My goodness! I was now seeing the tree in a new light..literally! The golden sunlight on the golden tassels was a sight to behold! Maybe...just maybe, tallow trees have a place here on the Bayou...at least, a couple of them, anyway.
People are funny. It seems that most folks are never satisfied with the way life treats them. They are always looking for other things and the present situation is not to their liking. This is especially noticeable with the weather. Either it is too rainy, too dry, too windy, too cold or too hot. Complaints run amok with "I hate winter!" "Oh, my word! It is too hot!" "This humidity is killing me!' I sort of get tickled since all the complaining in the world has never changed the weather. What the environment throws at us is the way it is going to be regardless of how much we whine.
In the dead of winter, most folks "cannot wait until spring" but, once spring comes and the blooms start to pop out, their love of the season changes. "I hate pollen!" Well, sorry folks. If you are going to have spring, you are going to have pollen. That is just life renewing itself. Come on...get a grip and a box of allergy meds.
This afternoon, I decided a walk was due to work off a bit of that Easter dinner overload. As I was wandering the hillside, the hickory trees caught my attention. They were all heavy with "tassels" or blooms. Yep, those allergy makers are out again! For the past month or so, the trees have taken turns at making folks miserable. Not me. I find the trees' efforts to reproduce fascinatingly beautiful. In my thoughts, the tassels are a lot better than the nuts that follow. Until you have been whacked in the head by a wayward flying hickory nut, you have not felt one of Mother Nature's weirdest pains. There is the instant of severe pain that comes with impact. Then, afterward, there is that slow-healing bruised feeling that is aggravated with each touch. Forget washing the hair with vigor, brushing deeply or styling the hair in any manner....for weeks! Yes, indeed, the tassels are a lot sweeter!
For the next few weeks, folks will be whining, sniffling and sneezing once again. Keep tissues on hand, have a supply of allergy meds and dole them out dutifully while listening to lots of complaints about spring and how folks cannot wait until summer gets here. (Until it is here along with the good, ole Deep South heat and humidity!)
