Mushy Wood...Mushy Brain

   For the life of me, I cannot think of what type tree floated up in the hurricane debris.  I should know this.  I do know this.  Only I don't know this.  The log is of a tree that was leafless before Hurricane Zeta deposited it on our property so that is of no help.  What I do know is that the wood has a dark orange layer just beneath the bark.  This layer is about an inch thick and peels off rather easily.  I am no botanist and I do not even know the names of the layers but it is just below the bark.  What makes it interesting is that the entire log is so soft that you can literally put your fingers right through it.   Granted that is probably due to deterioration but should this be happening in a matter of months?  I can reach down and pull huge chunks of the log off with no effort.  This does not sound like a very sturdy tree.  No wonder it fell to the storm.  

  Mark actually cut the log in firewood sized pieces for Son to split.  While the thought was good, the wood is not.  There is no possible way to haul it to the fireplace!  It falls apart!  Basically, I would need a shovel and bucket to get it inside the Little Bayou House.  Then, I am not overly sure of whether I should even burn the stuff!  

  So...if anyone has a clue of the identity of this tree by using a photo of one piece, let me hear from you.  I really should recognize this.  I guess the brain has not fully healed yet as I had hoped.

 

Mockingbird Diner

Once again at daybreak,  I was on the back deck of my son and daughter-in-law's lovely home.  In the semi-wooded area directly behind the back fence, there is a tree that I cannot identify.  It is not highly important that I go around naming each and every tree that I find but this one is different.  Each morning just before the sun rises, mockingbirds start to flock toward the tree.  I counted thirty-one birds this morning..all mockingbirds!  I think every mockingbird in the state of Georgia descends upon the tree for breakfast. You see, this tree is covered with tiny, orange fruits and evidently the mockingbirds have taken a liking to this fruit for breakfast.

I took several pictures just to use as reference in the search for a name. I searched and searched but to no avail.  I have yet to identify the tree! I suppose that I should have gotten a tad closer to get better pictures but the tree stands in the midst of an underbrush thicket.  I was hesitant to go scrabbling about in the weeds and brush as I did not want to become the breakfast for a mess of ticks.  That would never do!  Anyway, each day that I have been here this week, the mockingbirds have come.  My idea is if I can identify this tree, perhaps I can integrate several around the Bayou.  Why, may you ask, would I plant more trees in the yard?  Well, my thinking is if the mockingbirds crave whatever this orange fruit is, perhaps they would leave my figs alone!

Just before we leave to head back to the Coast, I think I will try to snag a few of the little orange fruits!  Maybe I can find one that a mockingbird dropped so I do not have to weasel my way through the bushes!  The unidentified tree would look mighty nice down near the marsh!