Pink Blurs and Happy Giggles

  As long as I can remember, there have been tales told about the Bayou and its denizens....and I am not talking critters here.  There were tales of lynchings, plane crashes and weird fire balls floating through the air.  Whether any of these were true, remains to be seen (except for the fire balls...they ARE real) but sometimes I have to wonder if some paranormal things occur.  Occasionally, something will strike a chord and make me think.  If you remember from posts past, I have discussed weird faces appearing on a wall, pictures literally flying off the shelf and even strange noises in the Little Bayou House.  (As a note here, the first Bayou House, which inexplicably burned to the ground, had its share of odd happenings, too.)  While these strange occurrences send some folks in a fit of nervousness or even fear, I have yet to be afraid.  Yes, I do feel that "something" odd is happening and perhaps there are unexplained "visitors" here but not once have I been frightened. 

  A few days back, I randomly took some photos of an old oak tree that stands right on the marsh edge.  The tree, in itself, is pretty innocuous but as I was photographing the tree, I could hear laughter.  I brushed it off as giggles from the children across the Bayou and nothing more.  My photography session lasted a few more moments but I could not shake the feeling that someone was nearby.  I had the strange feeling that this old oak tree had been the "play house" of children long before my own were climbing the limbs.  

  After viewing the eight pictures that I took of the tree, one stood out as a bit unusual.  All photos were taken from the same spot in the yard and all were taken within a minute, yet, one was far different.  In fact, one photograph even "felt" different.  I have always heard that orbs and blurs in a photograph were paranormal beings.  These were not blemishes but visitors.  Perhaps?  Maybe for folks who believe that we occasionally have encounters the oddities bring a hint of solace.  The oak tree in the one picture had a strange blur which could either be explained away as the sun glinting on the lens or be taken as something more.  When you throw in the giggles at the same time, one has to wonder.  Then again..a pink orb or blur is explained as being a happy entity full of fun and love so I figure the giggles fit right in with my blur.  Maybe?  It is all good.

Questions...questions!!!

  For years now, Son and I have been joking about there being a ghost that lingers around the Bayou. Let a door slam unexpectedly and "The ghost did it!"  Let common items appear in strange places and "The ghost put them there!"  Let anything unexplained occur and "The ghost is having fun!"  That "ghost" seemed to be quite active, for a while or our imaginations were, at least.  Then again, there have been several "sightings" where someone has claimed "You really DO have a ghost! It is upstairs!"  There was even a series of "faces" that appeared on the wall upstairs with no explanation as to how they got there.   And...hand prints on the ceiling above the stairwell suddenly appeared. Those are some twenty feet up.  Oh, well.  Ghost or not, there are some rather unusual things that happen around here.

  For several years, my camera (no, I have not resorted to a phone for photographs) would turn itself on at the most unexpected times.  Sometimes, this would result in photographs of the wall, a chair or door depending on whichever way the camera was facing.  Son explained it away as the humidity wreaking havoc on the electronic parts inside the camera.  I claimed it was the "ghost"!  Our friendly ghost could turn on laptops, phones and even full sized desktop computers.  It is obviously very technological minded...more so than I am.

  Recently, however, our ghostie has been absent.  It has not been playing pranks on us.  There have been no odd noises, misplaced items or flying picture frames (yes, that did happen...twice.) Things have been relatively quiet.  I figured our friendly ghost had vacated the premises.  Then, suddenly, as if to say "Not so fast, lady!  I am still here!"  Things started again.  One of the key-wind clocks has been regularly opened.  The bezel on front (the glass door) has been repeatedly opened when no one is around.  I have watched.  It swings open for no apparent reason!  The ghost does it!  Then, most recently, a small lighted fragrance warmer has been lit.  This is a beautiful, electric oil warmer that my brother and girlfriend gave to me as a gift.  It fills the house with a sweet citrus scent!  The light is one of those "touch" lamps that is turned on by lightly tapping the base.  I turn it off each night before bed but for the past few nights, the lamp has "magically" been relit.  How?  At first, I thought Ms. Nycto (Bayou Princess Cat) may have climbed up on the table to touch the base but not so.  Last night, the cat was sleeping soundly on the bed.  The light came on and went to the brightest setting which takes three taps.  How?? There was no one besides that cat and me in the room!  Well, maybe?  Ok, ok..."The ghost did it!"  Welcome back, ghostie!

Strange Things In Strange Places

    One never knows what may wash in with the tide around here.  We are accustomed to finding all sorts of "treasures" after a hurricane but having things come in during the winter months is a tad unusual.  The north wind has a way of pushing the tide far out from the pier leaving no water to float anything much less a bunch of oddities.  An oddity did make its way to a small inlet on the other side of my brother's pier (just to the west of us).  A freak storm from the south pushed the tide far enough up into the Bay that it left gifts behind for us.  By gifts, I mean debris that needed clearing.

  At first, I had no idea why a buoy was sitting almost on shore.  It then occurred to me that this thing was yet another "treasure" left behind by the high tide.  At least, it is not MY treasure and I do not have to discard that huge thing.  According to the "Regulatory Buoy Markers" list, the marker seems to be either a "no swimming" marker or a "swimming" marker as both have a huge red diamond mark in the middle with an + in the middle.  I find it odd that both have the same emblem but, hey, no one should be swimming in this area anyway.  First, there are alligators that do not like to be disturbed.  The gators stick to the small inlets where they will not be harassed by people but will defend their territory if necessary.  People are the intruders...not the gators.  Second, the bottom here is mud...soft, mushy mud that makes it easy to sink up to your waist in no time flat.  In a matter of minutes, you can become hopelessly mired!  The mud has been compared to the "quicksand of the Deep South".  Third, under that mud lies anything that previous tides, reckless people and numerous storms have dumped into the area.  This means everything from broken glass to boards with barnacles or other pointy, sharp things hide just out of sight. 

  I am not sure what the writing says on the buoy but lets hope no one takes it to heart that this is a "swimming" area.  Once in, a swimmer may become stuck and, as that person sloshes around trying to free himself, all of the gators in the inlets will be alerted to his presence.  The gators will come to investigate causing panic in the swimmer.  Said swimmer will slosh even more to get to safety and may just happen to stir up some shard that causes a wound.  Things will go drastically downhill from there.  Again, people are the intruders...the gators live here.  But...sadly, if an alligator ever does defend it territory, it will be the one dispatched.  

  The buoy sits right against the shoreline in about a foot of water.  Hopefully, another storm will come in and either wash it further ashore or back out to where it originated.  Also, hopefully, people use some commonsense when it comes to being around the bayous and not need some marker to inform them one way or the other.

Why Is My Rooftop So Weird?

  Son went up to do a bit of "spring cleaning" on the rooftop.  Once a year, he climbs up on both the shed and the house roofs and sweeps off all of the accumulated leaves and pine straw.  This bit of cleanup was my job before he decided that I was probably a bit too old to be clamoring around on the housetop.  It did not bother me as the shed roof is a gentle slope and the part of the house where the leaves amass is also a bit flatter than the steep pitch of the main house.  Still, I was ever so happy to hand over my broom as long as he does not keep it as that would not fly..hehe!  (Just kidding...I think.)  

  Being as this is an annual thing, I never think much about it but last year (in April), he swept the house roof and made a weird find.  Under the leaves, he saw a slight glimmer and when he investigated, he found our old filleting knife.  This was one that we kept on the pier.  It was old and rusty and only used to cut bait.  How it came to rest upon the housetop is still a mystery.  He assumed that perhaps an osprey or other large bird carried it there.  The idea is plausible...I guess.  

  Today, he did the rooftop spring cleaning a bit earlier since we have had so much rain.  He figured that the soggy leaves accumulating on the roof was not a good idea so up he went to sweep (or shove, as the case was).  While clearing the same spot where he found the knife last year, he found another mystery.  A short length of pipe was under the leaves.  When he brought it down, I instantly recognized it.  This was a piece of an old metal arbor that I had used as a decoration at the local elementary school some twenty five years ago! Why was that up there?  How did it get there?  Why was it still around here in the first place?  The pipe is about the same length as the filleting knife so is there some sort of connection?  Again...we have no answers to any of these and many more questions.  Is our packrat of a bird still toting off strange items?  Is there some critter intent on presenting us with odd gifts?  Why is my rooftop so weird that it collects oddities that should not be there?  The answers may never be known. Mysteries abound on the Bayou!