"We need 500 of these quickly!"

   Yes, indeed.  We do.  Darling Daughter made that comment when I sent a (poor) photograph of the Eastern Kingbird and told her that there were several in the yard doing fantastic aerobatic maneuvers around the old, dead oak tree.  I was a bit entranced by the birds' antics and figured there had to be a specific reason behind their actions. I watched as long as I could before I had to make a dash to the house due to being eaten alive by mosquitoes!  It was time for a bit of research on the type of bird and what it may be doing.  I found that the Eastern Kingbird eats those dratted mosquitoes!  Needless to say, I was elated but I continued reading and soon became even happier!  It seems that the birds love to eat swarming termites!  Oh, happy day!  These birds are heroes!

  By this time, it was just about dark.  I sent the photograph to Elizabeth and told her of my recent study.  Her comment was almost a desperate plea..."We need 500 of these quickly!"  Yep, the termites were swarming with a vengeance at her place.  She and Robbie were vacuuming termites from their house in hopes to rid the place of some.  That is when I decided to check our "outdoor termite light".  Oh, goodness!  To explain, years ago, I found that termites were attracted to lights so in the midst of "lights out" inside, a shop light was rigged far down the hillside in hopes that perhaps the critters would mosey on down there.  It worked!  Last night when I checked the light, thousands of termites were swirling under the light!  We literally had a termite cyclone down there!  What made it better was lizards and frogs were devouring many of the bugs!  Oh, yeah!  This was good. 

  I now figured out that the Kingbirds were catching the termites as they were coming out of the old oak tree to swarm. For two hours before dusk, the birds did their aerial stunts while consuming the termites. I hope the birds stick around and reproduce here.  I welcome them all!  Should I mention that I love Eastern Kingbirds?  

  Note...the photograph of the termites was taken from an upstairs window.  What appears to be a small tree decorated with white lights is definitely something far more sinister!  That is the shop light facing downward with a cyclone of termites flying underneath.  The light is glinting off their wings making interesting patterns albeit a bit disturbing when you know that those wings are attached to critters that are eating the houses down here on the Coast.

The Termites Started It!

   The termites started this battle of bugs around the Bayou.  After Hurricane Katrina nigh on twenty years ago, termites started munching on the mountains of debris that were left behind by the storm surge.  It took years for the Coast to scramble out from under the piles and piles of smashed houses and downed trees.  In that time, termites happily chomped away on the mess.  Then, those critters took flight and aggravated the daylights out of everyone.  Not many thought about how the termites that were swarming were leaving their handy debris pile homes to infiltrate the newly built or repaired structures.  So...the termites made themselves at home yet again.  Once folks became aware that their houses were in danger of being totally eaten, the war began.  People sprayed their homes and outbuildings in hopes of eradicating the critters.  Nope...it is not that simple.  The termites moved elsewhere and continued chomping now infesting live trees.  It took several years before anyone thought that the termites were killing trees!  And the swarms continued...until just about every tree along the Coast has been damaged, if not completely destroyed.  Well, the termites are on the move again to who knows where.  The swarms let us know that the battle has not ended.  It has only relocated.  

  Now, there is a "new kid" in town.  The Neoclytus scutellaris has made an appearance. This is also known as the Gray-winged Neoclyt-Borer and, as you can tell by its name, it eats wood.  Once the termites infested the live trees and weakened them to the point that they are literally dying, this critter came to take advantage of the situation.  The Gray-winged Neoclyt-Borer is almost exclusively associated with dead or dying oak trees.  This saddens me greatly as I have always loved the old oaks that dotted the property.  They stood through storms, fires and humans only to be taken down by some tiny critters.  I cannot be unduly furious with the borer as it is only finishing up the work started by the termites.  I do wonder just what is next on the agenda for those nasty termites.  I do believe it is high time they leave the Coast.  They have already pillaged extensively to the point that just mentioning their name brings groans from all of the locals.  It seems that this Battle of Bugs will be never-ending.

The Felling of a Mighty Oak Tree

   Back between the original greenhouse and the shed, there stands the remnants of a tall oak tree.  The tree stood strong through hundreds of storms only to fall to a tiny bug.  Insects can do more damage than the raging hurricane sometimes.  A couple of years back, Son noticed that a lot of our living oak trees were infested with termites.  Yep....living trees.  This was a bit disturbing, to say the least.  He set to work trying to save the trees by using the same spray that we have had to resort to for the house, shed and any other outbuildings around here.  As much as I hate to use chemicals around the place, there comes a time when it is absolutely necessary if we want to save the place.  So, he mixed his concoction and set to work.  Well, that was a lot of work as we have a lot of trees.  Some, like the aforementioned one, were too far gone to try to save.  He still sprayed thinking maybe he could contain the infestations. Hopefully.

 Needless to say, the tree died and was soon infested not only with the termites but with black carpenter ants that were eating the termites.  We quit spraying to allow the ants to do their job.  They worked tirelessly in the dead tree but were, at the same time, preyed upon by the woodpeckers.  The entire tree soon became riddled with the drillings of the birds.  The food chain was at work.  Soon, the tree started falling bit by bit. Now, a new form of life has come to the old tree.  On one of the upper parts of the tree, there is a large hole that appears to be the nesting site of either the pileated woodpecker or a family of squirrels.  Down below among the roots, lizards, snails and beetles are enjoying life hidden under the palmettoes and shards of tree bark.

  While out back, I noticed that bracket or shelf mushrooms are rapidly taking down the tree.  The entire southern side of the tree is literally a ladder of orange mushrooms.  These mushrooms are doing the final takedown of the old oak tree.  The fungi will rot the tree as it, itself, thrives.  Soon, the old oak will come tumbling down and that will be the end of it.  However, in the meantime, the tree, even in death, is providing for the life of others.  

Just Doing His Job

   The other morning, I was busy cutting out some of the smilax vines that had taken over a clump of palmettoes.  This is some chore since the tubers can be massive and, if you leave one tiny bit, the vines will soon come back with a vengeance.  It is a losing battle on this hill.  Then again, perhaps I should leave the vines and chop out everything else.  Those huge tuber clumps do a fine job of keeping the hillside from washing down into the Bayou during hurricanes!  Maybe I need to rethink my landscaping here.  Anyway, as I was whacking at the vines, a familiar whapping could be heard just behind me.  Looking up, I found the guy that was smacking a tree with all his might.  Ahh, you are a good fellow, Mr. Pileated Woodpecker. You keep working on that tree!  I need it down.

  The woodpecker was hammering away on a dead white oak tree that had succumbed to a termite infestation.  Yep, most of our live trees are being eaten from the inside out and there is not much that can be done.  We have been treating the trees but there is no way possible to get to "the root of the problem"...so the termites flourish and the trees die.  It is sad. Still, the woodpecker is doing his job.  As he hammers away on the tree, he is probably getting rid of more termites, wood beetles and carpenter ants than we will ever be able to tackle.  

  I watched and smiled as the bird bore hole after hole into the dead tree.  Since this particular tree is far from anything it can damage by falling, I am leaving it for Mother Nature to take down.  So many critters can inhabit or forage in a dead tree.  The pileated is only one type of woodpecker that visits the tree on a daily basis.  The birds are doing a fine job of literally "chopping" down the tree.  By midwinter, the tree should come crashing down then the termite nest beneath can be accessed and the varmints killed.  Until then...the carpenter ants can feast upon the termites and, in turn, the birds can feast upon the ants.  Win/win situation for those of us who hate termites!  Good job, Mr. Pileated Woodpecker!  Good job.

Life in the Orange Trees

   A massive cleanup of the yard is in full swing.  There were so many back-to-back hurricanes and tropical storms crashing through the area that we never completed one cleanup before another had to begin.  Usually, those were put off as much needed repairs were done first.  Now, however, there has been just enough break for us to really make progress in areas that were neglected...neglected far too long.  This cleanup has brought some giggles...some tears...and a lot of achy muscles but...we are making progress.  

  While doing this cleanup, Son noticed that there were termites literally infesting the live citrus trees.  I was wondering why so many looked rather puny this year but never expected it to be termites.  He started treating the ground around the trees and I started lopping off any limbs that looked compromised. It is just about to the point that we should fully take out the whole grove but we will try to salvage any that we can.  It was on one of those "lopping frenzies" that I had to stop and enjoy one of those miracles of life situations.  A Great Swallowtail was just emerging from its cocoon!  This was interesting enough but then I found an Orange Dog Caterpillar on the same tree!  How neat to find two stages of the same type butterfly!  Too bad neither of these eat termites.

Well...technically....

  Son has this way of getting a point across that does not humiliate but does "set the record straight".  I can be rambling on about something without doing a whole lot of thinking when I hear  "Well...technically..." and I know it is coming.  I am fixin' to be corrected even if it is only in jest.  Well...technically....

  Yesterday, he was ripping off one of our dormers of the upstairs.  The time had come to replace the siding but also check the inner structure to make sure no termite or hurricane damage has occurred to the Little Bayou House.  He was carefully balanced on our steep roof while I was inside the house.  I was his "assistant" as I would run downstairs to get things as needed.  While there, I was doing the usual inane chatter that I have a tendency to do when a goose flew over our heads.  Son probably could have reached up and caught the bird as it was that close. That got me thinking about our view of things vs what a bird sees.  Looking down all I could see was the tops of the citrus trees and the buckeye tree!  I mused "Wow! I have a bird's eye view of my gardens!"   And it came. 

  "Well, technically, Mom...."  Oh well,  I might as well get ready.  "What?  Technically what?"  He continued his statement.  "Well, technically, you have an elevated person's eye view of the gardens."  Huh?  The saying goes "bird's eye view"!  So he explained.  It seems as if birds see things totally different that what people see.  Birds can see "more" colors.  Son went on to explain how this is possible and how scientists know.  I listened intently...until I noticed that butterflies were flitting around the citrus blossoms.  Then my thoughts got lost as they wandered into the lepidopteran world and left the avian world.  Perhaps I see things from a butterfly's eye view!  Well...technically...who cares?  The trees looked mighty pretty from my perch in the window!

The Termite and the Peach

   Back behind the canebrake, we had a small grove of peach trees.  The trees did well there as there was no competition from surrounding trees.  This was one of the only open spots on the whole place.  Ten peach trees stood proudly in their grove and bore tons of peaches.  Early spring saw the whole place a bright pink with blossoms then midsummer found us harvesting bushels of peaches.  Folks, I will tell you that there is nothing better than picking a peach from the tree and tasting that juicy goodness right there in the grove!  For years the trees did well...then....

  Well, then termites happened.  The entire Coast has been inundated by those dratted termites.  No place is safe.  We have been battling the critters in the house, shed, greenhouse, arbors...anything that is made of wood.  It has been heartbreaking to see the damage done by such a small critter. 

  But to beat all, those critters are now attacking live trees!  Yep, you guessed it.  My lovely peach trees have fallen to the tiny beasts!  Out of the ten trees, one still stands.  That one has been doctored with every concoction we can imagine.  It, at least, is still producing blooms.  That poor tree has been put through the worst things imaginable but still has the strength to try.  It breaks my heart to know that nothing is safe from those wretched termites and can only imagine what is next.  I am so very tired of termites and I will definitely miss my peaches!

Termite Balls and Fig Trees

   For the past couple of years, I have tended to five fig trees that are in large pots.  I just have not had the space to plant them in the yard.  The trees are doing well and even produce figs!  A couple of days ago, I noticed that one of the large trees looked bad.  When I checked, the tree just flopped over!  It was dead! It appeared to have rotted off just below the dirt level.  I tossed it on the burn pile and thought no more about it.

  Today, I needed a large pot for some ginger roots that I had sprouted.  I remembered the dead fig tree and thought that the pot would be perfect!  So...I emptied out the dirt and found...a ball!  Yep, I found what appeared to be a spherical clump of...something.  Alrighty then.  As I am prone to do, I investigated.  Uh, oh!  Not good!  I never dreamed that termites could be the cause of my fig tree's demise!  Yep, that "ball" was a termite nest!  Now what?  

  The ball was placed in a bucket and all of the surrounding dirt was put back in the large flower pot.  I am happy to say that there are no more termites.  I boiled them.  Since the bug spray did not kill the termites, I took a hint from an uncle.  Boiling water poured on ants kills them so I knew it would work on the termites as well.  Plus, the hot water would get rid of any fungus that might have started growing in the dirt.

  Now, my ginger roots are happily in their new termite-free home!  My next job is to repot those other monstrous trees and check them for critters.  This is something I had not planned on doing but is obviously necessary.  Who would think?  Termites killed my fig tree!

A New Favorite!

   Well, I think I just found my new favorite insect!  While out this morning, I noticed a tiny damselfly flitting about the Frog Pond.  Oh, my goodness!  I was so in hopes that this beautiful, little insect was careful not to get too close to those old frogs! Thankfully, it stayed far enough away to avoid being zapped by a froggy tongue.  I watched the damselfly for a few minutes then decided I needed to learn a bit more about this graceful creature.  After snapping a couple of photos, I headed back inside to do some research.

  All I read was just about what I knew already.  Damselflies are related to dragonflies.  They are much smaller with small eyes (in proportion to their heads) compared to the dragonflies large eyes.  Damselflies lay their eggs in fresh water.  Their nymphs have voracious appetites and seem to love mosquito nymphs and bloodworms.  These creatures fold their wings back on their bodies when at rest.  Damselflies work together to catch swarming termites. 

  Wait!  What??? Termites?  Yep!  It seems that adult damselflies love to eat the soft-bodied termites!  Oh, my goodness!  I love this creature!  The Mississippi Gulf Coast has been seeing an increasing amount of termite swarms each spring.  Those critters literally can shut down the town as people go into hiding with lights out.  Millions of the termites take to the skies in the early evening and get into everything...hair, clothing, nose, ears, eyes...ugh!  Now, I find that the damselflies eat termites and I am determined to find a way to attract more to the place.  I would much rather have those than termites...ANY DAY!

Game Called On Account Of Rain....

  Yesterday was a t-shirt wearing, yard-cleaning, tear-down sort of day.  I was up at dawn and in the yard.  The east rose arbor was in a big tangle so the first chore of the day was to do a bit of "untangling".  This was done, rose vines hauled to the burn pile and rose garden raked.  While trimming, I realized the arbor was about to tumble.  Termites had invaded the posts!  Then...as I checked, I came to realize that the entire fence covered with climbing roses was in the same dire fix.  Every fence post around the rose garden was in ruins.  Well, nothing to do but take it all down and start anew.  Son came to my rescue and started ripping out fencing and posts.  Together, we managed to take down the whole works.  This led to a new problem as now we either had to replace it all or come up with a new landscaping plan.  Exhausted, we agreed to complete it the next day (today).

  Fast forward to this morning....it was a sweat-shirt, stay-inside and mope sort of day.  When I awoke at 4am, the first thing I heard was....RAIN!  Raindrops were pelting the rooftop and those would not stop for the entire day.  While this was good for the uprooted roses, it was a "thorn in the thumb" for the plan of redoing the garden.  The roses sit in heaps awaiting their new destinations.

  This evening, the rain continues and I sit with a billion options of how to redo the garden.  At least, rainy days are good for planning.  The time spent will be a huge help instead of jumping into the redo headlong with no idea of where things are going.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be a good work day and we can get on with this chore.  I hate leaving things unfinished.

You Cannot Eat My House!

  I finally have new siding on the Little Bayou House thanks to Hubby and Son.  They have been renovating the place for quite some time due to an infestation of my enemy, termite.  Yep.  The place was being eaten from inside the walls.  So...the walls came down.  New walls went up.  I am a happy camper because termites are gone!  Now it seems as if other critters want to "try out" the new siding.  For the past few weeks, I have found adult antlions, grasshoppers, spiders and wasps nosing around the siding.  While I adore my siding, I am not sure what the great attraction is for bugs.  This stuff is not wood!  The siding is some stuff called cement siding.  It is supposed to be termite resistant at least....termite proof at best.  I am hoping for the latter.  But these other critters are driving me crazy with their affinity for my house.

  The other morning, I noticed what I thought was a smudge on my new paint job.  The siding seemed to have a blotch of something high enough to be just out of my reach.  A few days later, I noticed that my blotch was moving.  There were little squiggles "worming" their way away from the original smear.  Uh, oh!  I do not need more critters.  I climbed a ladder, took photos and sprayed the teeny-tiny, siding-dwelling critters.  After killing the mass of them (there was clearly hundreds), I decided I had better determine the type of critter.  It appears that my house was the host to a couple of hundred moth caterpillars.  Ok, so I have seen caterpillars on plants but never cement siding.  There cannot be much to eat on the side of a house.

  I feel better after eradicating the critters even though I usually follow a no kill motto.  I suppose that strategy only applies when the critter is not trying to literally eat me out of house and home.  Nope...we are not going that route again.  I have had enough already.

I Hate Termites!

  Most of the time, I get along really well with the critters of the Bayou.  It is almost unheard of for me to wish harm to any one of them....almost.  Almost because I really do wish to eradicate one species from the whole place.  I have no desire to ever see another nor do I ever wish to see the evidence left behind by these critters. I could definitely do without them.

  Termites.  Termites are some of the most vile creatures ever to call the Bayou home. I absolutely loathe them  Why?  Because termites literally eat you out of house and home.  In fact, they EAT the home.  We have been battling termite damage in the Little Bayou House for several years now.  We are making progress but it is slow going.  There is nothing like fully believing that your upstairs could become your downstairs at any given moment.  I have had that fear.  With a lot of hard work and more money than I want to think about, Mark and Son are making great headway against the destruction but, at times, it seems overwhelming.  Just about the time I think we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, we find more damage.  At this rate, we will soon have a new house.

  This afternoon, I was moving a few logs out of the new path when I found thousands of termites crawling on the ground.  The critters were not happy with my disturbance.  They started scurrying quickly beneath the ground.  The bright, hot sun would have meant a quick demise for the critters.  Oh, how I wish that would happen!  These are the subterranean termites that normally stay underground and come to the surface to destroy any wood that happens to be nearby.  They are also the ones that will build small earthen tunnels to reach wood.  These tunnels are the key to their moving into homes.  The passageway helps the termites to slip in and take over before anyone notices.  Once they are detected. it is usually too late. The damage has been done and the house is weakened.  Thankfully, (hopefully), we will save the Little Bayou House from this destruction like we have so many other things.  It is tiring...so tiring.  I hate termites.

The Trying Day

  So...it has been a trying day, to say the least.  In fact, I might go as far as saying it has been a lousy day and that is something coming from someone who tries to find at least some good in everything.  Still, today has been one of those that I hope does not rear its ugly head too often.  I can do without the stress.

  First off, more termites.  LOTS more termites or, at least, evidence of where they have been.  This is in the small craft room.  Everything had to be moved.   Have you ever moved a craft room on short notice?  Not fun but I had no choice.  If I wanted anything to not come crashing down around me, it had to be moved.  Son's childhood friend just happened to stop by so I had help.  He understands my predicament and my distaste for termites. Thankfully, the buggers have vacated this small area of the house but have probably moved on to munch a different spot.  The battle is never ending.   Then, the discovery was made that the entryway (which I just redid) has to be partially "deconstructed" which means all my work was for naught.  All of the decorative touches and furniture had to be moved.  This, I did by myself.  Again...not fun.

  This being April, the grasshoppers are hatching.  Not your normal, cute green grasshoppers but the ugly, plant devouring Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers.  Those vile things that hatch out in hordes and devour everything in sight.  My battle with them occurs twice daily and I still make no progress in eradicating them.  These things are toxic so I receive no help from my Bayou critter friends in this war.  This year seems to be an especially "good" year for the grasshoppers because there are more than ever.  I am about to give up and resign myself to never see another green plant for the entire spring.  Not fun...

  Aside from the ongoing termite and grasshopper saga, there is something amiss in the backyard.  There is a "dead".  I am not sure what has died but there is definitely something dead back there.  For a solid hour, I searched.  The smell is highly concentrated next to the outdoor storage room but I found nothing.  I am beginning to think that a few blue crabs from Mark's last crab boil met their demise under the storeroom.  That is not fun either.

  Later, amid all of the trouble of the day, Mr, PJ, the old dog, seemed to have some sort of "spell".  His breathing changed and he seemed greatly lethargic.  This scared the bejeebies out of me.  Knowing there is nothing the vets can do for him at this stage, I did nothing but flop down by him to console him.  As I sat holding him like a baby, he kept licking my hand as if to show me he appreciated the comforting.  This breaks my heart and is definitely NOT FUN!

  Lastly, Ms. Nycto, the Bayou Princess Cat, was attacked by a rogue tomcat and made an escape up to the top of a tall but spindly tree.  She can climb up but can never climb back down.  I sure can NOT climb up.  Twice I have chased the marauding tom away but each time he came back.  Tonight, Ms. Nycto is still in the tree and THAT breaks my heart.  I am hoping and praying that the big old owl does not attack her.  Not fun...not fun...today was not fun.  Today was stressful...

Its Rough Without A Bathroom!!

  At about 7am, Mark and I were discussing the plans for the day while we leisurely sipped a cup of coffee.  "Well, we really need to check that toilet. It is starting to have a tilt." I mentioned.  Mark agreed and said he would run to the nearby home store to get parts.  He and Son started in on the project within the hour.  Thinking it was just the wax ring that seals the toilet, they carefully removed the thing.  Well, that was the beginning.  Here it is 9pm and I still do not have a bathroom.  There is a huge gaping hole where it once was.  One thing led to another and the small task turned into a major ordeal.  This would not be so bad except...we only have the ONE bathroom!

  Once the toilet was removed, the menfolk noticed that the floor boards were a rotten.  "Lets pull it up and fix it right." Mark said as he started out the door to the store.  Son started removing boards.   I made the comment that "It could be worse!  We could find termites!"....Yep.  Big mistake.  While we did not find any active termites, the damage had already been done.  Son kept pulling boards.  I kept hauling boards out the back door.  That led to us pulling out the vanity.  Uh, oh!  The pipes had corroded and were crumbling!  So, now I had no commode nor lavatory.  I did however have an "open air" look to the bathroom.  Without the floor boards, the ground was now clearly visible. Mark ripped out the pipes and headed BACK to the store for lavatory parts. He came back with a new vanity and toilet!

  So...one thing led to another and the bathroom is now receiving an entire makeover..not that I wanted one.  We are all exhausted.  The menfolk are working diligently to get the room at least critter-proofed for the night and to get us a working toilet.  The rest can be done tomorrow.

Fun on the Bayou!!!

  Yes, we are having fun on the Bayou!  It is that time of year when things get festive and we decorate the yard with lights!  We frolic about with cans in hand and have a grand old time!!  What fun!  At least, that is the way my friend, Darlene, was describing the events of the evening.  While talking on her phone, she was telling someone "Guess what my friend does for fun on the Bayou??"  Yep, fun.  So fun.

  After an afternoon of fishing, she and I headed back to the Little Bayou House for a bite to eat and then pulled our rocking chairs over to stare out over the Bay.  It was then that I noticed a bug flit in front of the light.  Uh, oh.  LIGHTS OUT!!! WINDOWS DOWN!!  BUG SPRAY IN HAND!!!  The termite swarms have started their nightly flights.  Ugh!  For the next half hour, a preplanned routine was set in motion.  First, every light in the house was doused.  Next, all windows were tightly shut.  Then, a shop light was toted down the hillside and set on bright.  Finally, cans of bug spray were aimed at any termite that dared show its nasty self inside the house.  I HATE TERMITES!

A shop light can draw the termites far from the house!

  The shop light does a fine trick of drawing the critters away from the house.   Once the bugs hit the hot bulb, most of them die instantly.  Others will fly in a huge circle around the light.  It is a cyclone of termites!  These can easily be exterminated while they are circling.  But in the meantime, if you are not careful, termites begin crawling on you.  They get on your clothes, crawl on your skin and become entangled in your hair.  It is just about the nastiest feeling there is but there is not much we can do other than endure.  Since Hurricane Katrina, the swarms have become worse and worse until now the critters can shut down businesses, end ballgames and cause people to run inside.  The entire Coast sees massive swarms of the critters around any light source so we have all learned "Lights Out!"  Some neighborhoods have gone so far as to have not only their Neighborhood Watch groups but, also, "Termite Watch" groups that speed dial everyone with the bad news.  

  For the next month, most evenings will see us sitting in the dark with a fly swatter in hand.  Its a way of life, here on the Bayou.  Yes, indeed!  We do have fun on the Bayou!

Its April...

  Its April.  April is definitely NOT my favorite month.  Not that I have anything against any particular month on the calendar, it is just that April has this way of gifting things that I do not wish to have. April on the Bayou means a lot of things but three of the most irritating events occur during that month.  The first of April means that I have to start doing the "Grasshopper Stomp" which is a "dance" that the kids named when they were young.  I used to gather all three of my kids and any others that happened to be visiting into a dance festival in the yard.  There, they could stomp all of the Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers that they could find.  The "Grasshopper Stomp" became an annual event as well as a necessity.  Those critters have a tendency to take over the place if allowed.  During late summer, each female lays about a bazillion eggs (actually, about 250 but when you are stomping them it seems much more.) that overwinter underground.  Then comes the warm sunshine of April and those eggs incubate and hatch. The entire ground turns a rust color for a few hours before turning black.  At this stage, the critters are relatively easy to kill as they tend to congregate in mounds. After a few days, however, they all go their separate ways and it is hard to find them.  Then, a few days later, they become munching machines and can strip a garden in a day. It is sad that nothing eats these grasshoppers as they are toxic.  I can only imagine the mess I would be in if I did not at least attempt to eradicate a whole slew of them during their hatching stage.  There would nary be a green leaf left in the yard.  These critters get to a hefty size of about three to four inches in length and keep right on munching throughout the entire summer.  It is not good.  April brings some bad things.

  As I mentioned, there are THREE irritating events that April brings.  The second is gnats.  Gnats make their itchy presence known as soon as the weather warms but are hugely noticeable in April.  These critters bite until you feel like you are on fire!  There is not a good time to be outside even for a few moments if it is a calm day.  We always hope for wind.  A lovely, stiff breeze of about 15 mph is desired for its cooling and for its ability to blow the gnats into the next county.  Bad thing...there are not a lot of repellents that work on gnats.  Smoke is about the only thing that rids the air of the critters so "smudgepots" are a must on the Bayou.  Then with the smudgepots burning, you just have to choke your way through the day....BUT!...the gnats are not there to bite....except if you exit the thick, black, cough-inducing, breath-stifling, choking smoke of the smudgepots. 

  The third menace to plague the Bayou during April is termites.  Yep.  April is termite swarming month so just about evening time, everyone has to hustle inside, draw the drapes, turn off the lights and hope for the best.  While these critters are not as "bitey" as the gnats, they do cause problems.  Not only will they quite literally eat you out of house and home because they do quite literally eat your house and home, when they swarm they are everywhere.  Termites are not choosy about where they land when they swarm.  They sort of flop about in the air all the while bumping into each other.  That misguided flight pattern does them no good until they spy a light source.  Then they hone in on it and make a beeline toward it.  If that light source is a house, the termites squeeze through any opening they can find to swarm inside.  Swarming inside means that they now bump into everything inside the house....humans and pets included.  The critters are on beds, sofas, tables, in the refrigerator, in the toilet, on the ceiling, on the floor, on the walls AND in your hair.  Ugh!  Light fixtures become darkened with their dead bodies, foodstuffs can become infiltrated and drinks are dotted with floating termites that try to swim in your sweet tea.  They are nasty. They are wood-munching terrors.  They eat houses.  Enough said.  At least the frogs and lizards are fat.

  So, it is no wonder that while everyone else looks forward to April as it heralds in spring, I abhor the critters it brings.  The Bayou has enough critters that I do not need them swarming all over the place.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that just about every third year, we get midges....swarms of midges...so many midges that the Little Bayou House has to remain darkened during those swarms, as well.  At times, the windows are so covered on the outside that you cannot tell whether it is daytime or nighttime. Thankfully, they do not bite, do not eat my garden and have yet to take a bite out of the Little Bayou House!  Out of the FOUR Horrors of April, midges are the least annoying.

  Come to think about it, this is that "third" year.  I guess I had better soon start noticing if I need to draw the curtains closed and douse the lights.  Ugh!  April, why can't you play nice???  Living on the Bayou ain't for the squeamish, that's for sure.

Change the Battle Plan!

  The "War on Termites" still rages at the Little Bayou House as it does at most homes on the Gulf Coast.  The critters invaded the area after Hurricane Katrina piled huge mounds of debris over the land and left them a regular smorgasbord of delights.  The effort to get back to normal took longer than expected and the piles of exposed lumber were an open invitation.  After the termites munched their way through the piles (and multiplied exponentially over the years), it was only natural that they would seek out other food sources.  Those just happened to be houses.  Reputable exterminators were hard to come by for several years after the storm so most folks took to doing it themselves.  Now, no exterminator will touch the places and no insurance covers the damage.  Most folks are just out of luck when it comes to fighting this war.  We have learned through experience not to expect any help.  It ain't happenin'.  So we do it ourselves.

  Last week, I found that termites had invaded the bookshelves that flank the fireplace in the dining room.  These shelves held hundreds of volumes of antique books.  The bugs had even infiltrated the books!  Well, there was nothing to do but clear the shelves and rip them out from the walls.  We did just that....all the way to the ground.  After another round of termite spray (which I think sometimes does not help), we started to rebuild.  Now the job is complete and I am sorting books to refill the new shelves.

  One small oddity popped up during this whole ordeal.  I found the termites quite by accident.  In an effort to help my brother, I needed a certain book on the shelf.  Knowing the general proximity of the book, I reached up and pulled six small volumes from the shelf.  Ugh!  What a disgusting thing to find termites in your books!  These six infested books were near the center of the shelf.  While ripping out the shelves, Son determined that the termites had started near the fireplace, tunneled up the wall and then made their way to the books.  The unusual thing was that the first four books against the affected wall were not harmed.  Not one termite chewed the pages.  The four books were skipped then the termites found and started munching the next few volumes.  The first four books in question?  Four bibles.  Now go figure!  That was a bit unusual!  What made it comical was when I told my oldest son of the incident, he laughed a bit and told me to tell his brother who was rebuilding the shelves to "throw out the termite spray. He needs to start using Holy Water!"  Maybe he has a point.  Holy Water and lots of prayers!  Perhaps that is what is needed to fight these little demons!  

Just Keeps Getting Worse

  Sometimes life throws stuff at you that seems to be more than you can handle.  You muddle through and, by all rights, thing should get better.  Just when you think things are starting to look up, the whole kit and caboodle is hurled at you with the greatest of force.  At times like that, you better duck your head until the blast passes and then come up fighting.  That is how it is here on the Bayou.  Things are not looking the best at the moment but I am still swinging and hope to win the battle. 

  Hurricanes are wicked things that come in with a fury and smack everything in the path.  The Little Bayou House has withstood even the strongest of these but I am not sure just how many more blasts the old place can take.  Hurricane Katrina is doing far more damage to the place today than it did twelve years ago.  I am talking about termites...again.  The critters came into the area after the hurricane, made themselves at home and then started eating that home...all the homes on the Coast.  We have been fighting the wood-munching critters for years now.  The war is on and we do win some battles but today...I found that the termites are sneaky.  

  I needed a book off the shelf in the dining room.  Bookshelves flank the fireplace and are filled with old books...some dating as far back as the early 1800's.  I love these dusty old things and often read them.  But today, the story of the books is heartbreaking.  Termites had tunneled their way up through the shelves and into the books.  Yep, the termites had chewed right through the pages of the books.  Two of the books were Pop's old school books.  I was almost as angry over the loss of these as I was the shelves and, well, literally my house.  There is no defeating these things!  

  Son and I pulled hundreds of books from the shelves, checked them for bugs, packed them in large trash bags and sprayed them.  He, then, started ripping out the built-in shelves.  The dining room will be gutted and we will go from there.  If the damage is too extensive, I am almost to the point of building a new house.  It is that bad....and just keeps getting worse.  

Tell Me It Is Not So....

  Yesterday morning, I was up early and cleaning house with a vengeance!  I had a mission!  I wanted to get everything finished by noon so I could play with clue hunt decorations.  Chores first...play later...good idea.  One of the early morning tasks included sweeping out the entryway.  This tiny room is now the preferred sleeping quarters for the Bayou Queen, Ms. Put.  The old cat has her fickle ways and chooses some of the oddest places but the entryway is hers now.  So, I clean up after the aged cat and do not complain as she has been with us now for almost twenty-two years. 

  So as I am sweeping, I accidentally hit the outer door with the broom.  (I am not the most graceful of people.)  The slight impact of broom to bottom of door created a mess.  Egad!  A pile of critters fell from the inner part of the door.  Termites were eating my door!  Yep, the door, of all things, was infested with the terrors of anything wooden.  While the rest of the room had been completely gutted and rebuilt, we made the mistake of reusing the door.   Duh??  If the walls had termites, chances are the door did, as well.  Yep, it did. Yep, I found them.  Yep, I was not happy.  I called Son.  "Hey!  We have a problem!"  He came out tapped the door, looked at the mound of termites that were now crawling about the steps.  "Well, now." he said...nothing more...nothing less.  The next thing I knew, my door was on the burn pile.  No door...termite infested or not...was blocking the mosquitoes from entering the house.  Ugh!

  Son did spend the next couple of hours making a door.  I asked if we should take a ride to the home supply place and buy one but the man of few words merely asked "Why?"  I guess he deemed it easier to make a door than to drive a mile.  Needless to say, I am pleased with my new door.  The entryway looks bright and cheery.  All the door needs is a new door tread and for me to paint it all.  Things will be as good as new. Termites...BE GONE!  Geez, how I hate those things!  Yep, there truly is at least one critter that I abhor!  Termites...the bane of my existence!  Or at least of my house's existence!

Skeletons in the Walls

  Forget having "skeletons in the closet", I have them in the walls!  As the renovations on the Little Bayou House continue, Mark and I spent the past few days ripping down siding.  With that, we have found that nothing surprises us.  As the walls to the laundry room came tumbling down, a few skeletons came tumbling out.  Geez!  I am beginning to think that I should write some horror story here.  Skeletons hiding in the walls?  Alrighty, then!

  Yep, living on the Bayou affords us the opportunity to interact with any number of critters.  Some are friendly, others...not so much.  We find snakes, frogs, squirrels, flying squirrels and alligators in the most unusual places but I never expected to find things inside the walls.  At first glance, I recognized the tiny skeletons as geckos.  The perfectly preserved rack of bones was just over an inch in length so I knew these were just hatchlings.  Nearby was a cluster of empty egg shells. Obviously, the tiny lizards hatched and died almost immediately.  While that seems sad in some ways, it makes me wonder why they died?  I am wondering if the termite spray also kills geckos.

  There are a ton of lizards of all sorts on the Bayou and, needless to say, near and even in the house.  They do not bother me much.  I figure that I would rather have a fat lizard on my wall than a thousand termites eating that same wall.  The lizards are pest control in a natural way.  Now I am a bit worried.  As we are changing out the siding, we are, of course, spraying for future termites.  Are we killing our geckos at the same time? 

  Ask anyone on the Gulf Coast and you will hear disgusting tales of the swarms of termites that come each spring.  Great clouds of the critters envelop the houses, street lights are completely shrouded and driving becomes nigh on impossible.  There is a ready cry of "Lights out! Termites!" that can be heard being passed from neighbor to neighbor. We need all the help we can get so killing the lizards is not an option! We may have to do a rethinking of this project just so we do not find anymore skeletons in our walls!