If you ever wander about a bayou like I often do, you start to ponder the whys and wherefores of a lot of things. Just this morning, a questioned rambled about in the brain for a while even though I knew the "scientific" answer. The mind-boggling part had nothing to do with the question of why shorebirds will stand on one leg but had everything to do with if they actually like standing on one leg. It is a well-known fact that the herons, egrets and cranes around here stand on one leg to keep the other one snug up in their feathers. Their long, spindly legs lose a lot of heat on these cold nights and mornings so standing on one while the other leg is tucked up under the feathers conserves a lot of heat...but do they like it? Are they comfortable standing there for hours? How do they not fall over? (Think about it...would you be able to stand like that for hours? I would not!)
This morning, there were two birds on the end of the pier. One was a tri-colored heron and the other a snowy egret. Both were standing in their "unipedal" position, both were staring straight toward my brother's pier and both were oblivious to my presence. There was just enough breeze to make the birds wobble a bit, now and again. This is when the all-important question of whether they were happy started squirming its way into my mind. Oh, how delightful it would be to converse with my fine feathered friends. But, alas, that is not possible so the answer will never be known.
I sat on the pier watching the birds for a good while. Only once did they change positions and swap legs. In fact, they did this in sync! It was almost as if a timer was set and it was beeping a loud alarm saying "Time to swap legs!" Watching them, I had to think how nice and warm their feather must feel to that cold leg! Speaking of warmth, it was time to head back inside. It was, indeed, a bit chilly out and I do not plan on standing on one leg while tucking the other up in my jacket!
Mark brought home two large mum plants for either side of the doorway. This has been sort of a ritual for the past few years and, I have to admit, it sure makes the place look like fall. The ones he brought this time were still just buds so they are opening slowly and should last for quite a while. Each time I enter the Little Bayou House, I have to stop and smile. Fall has come!
Have you ever wondered why mums have become the "Queen of Fall Flowers"? I do ponder such odd things and often have to research a bit to satisfy that nagging thought. Why? Who made the decision that chrysanthemums represented fall? Not that I am complaining...just wondering. Well, my research did not satisfy the ponderance. Everything states that they are known as the "Queen" but not much else. Most of the authors give a history of where mums originated, how Texas has homecoming mums and how we all like them but nothing is said of why they have been dubbed as queen. Why not daisies? The roadsides are full of yellow daisies. Why not purple ageratum? That stuff is amazingly brilliant, drought tolerant and long lasting. Why not goldenrod? Oh yeah. Goldenrod gets the bad rap of being an allergen even though that is hogwash. Still, it perplexed me as to why mums?
Even with all of the rambling about homecoming and colors, there was no real reason ever given. I guess I should just enjoy the blooms without questioning the titles. They are favorites! Do keep in mind, however, that mums are toxic to dogs! Eating one could cause a lot of major problems so it is best to keep your pets away from the fall decorations. (Not that old Mr. PJ would ever eat a flower but you never know!) So, long live the queen!
The oddest thoughts bounce around in my head while I am out doing mindless tasks. Such weird things filled the brain today as I cleaned out the little Frog Pond. Or at least, while I attempted to clean the pond. I did not finish as I found too many creepy crawlies at one point and decided to abandon the chore for a while. I did, however, manage to yank out all of the Water Hyacinths. This, in itself, was a daunting task. Over three hundred of these plants crammed the poor pond making it almost devoid of anything else. For those who do not know, Water Hyacinths multiply at such a great rate that they are a leading cause of blocked waterways. Just one of the plants can spread to thousands in a given year if there is enough space. Let each of those multiply at the same rate and soon free-flowing canals come to a jolting halt. Any life in the waterway will be suffocated and the whole place becomes a dead zone. Not happy. This is exactly why I am careful to not let any hyacinths reach the Bayou. One can kill the whole ecosystem there. Mine go to the compost pile to be used as fertilizer. Waste not...want not.
Those Water Hyacinths are what started the cogs in the brain to dust themselves off and start churning. Out of curiosity, I broke open one of the bulbous stalks to see just how the plant floats. Duh....the inside looked just like Styrofoam. I pondered if whoever invented the craft foam studied the Water Hyacinth to come up with their idea. Inside the stalk of the hyacinth, the pulp was quite funky looking. Tiny pockets of air were surrounded by a firm fiber. These pockets of air are what keep the plant afloat. I squished the stem and, lo and behold, it sounded like Styrofoam, too! This all made me wonder if there was something useful that could be made from the plant. A bit of investigation answered that question rather quickly. Nope! Other than becoming ideal fertilizer for the garden, the plants are most useless. I had thought that perhaps the stem could be dried and used as a flotation or as a filler but it seems as if the pockets turn to mush after a few days of being out of the water. Once the plant dies, it literally rots rather quickly. This does help with the composting but would be quite problematic if one was trying to retain the form for some other use. Water Hyacinths are not a crafty medium!
After my rather uneventful study of the plant, I pondered why they multiply with the rapidity they do. It seems that Water Hyacinths do not use a lot of sense...which stands to reason since they do not have brains. But, still, to multiply so much that you are killing yourself seems rather stupid. The plants keep on reproducing even to the point of piling one on top of the other. The lower ones eventually die but that does not hinder the others. Perhaps the dying ones are used as protein for the newer plants but what it the use of that? Once a waterway becomes completely clogged even the Water Hyacinths die. All of that reproducing eventually kills out the whole lot. Geez...
Then came another weird thought. Why are we in this nation so adverse to making use of what we have on hand? Why, since these plants do multiply so rapidly, has somebody not come up with the brilliant idea of making nature-friendly fuel from them? In some other countries, the plants are used as fuel and then the residue (ash) is turned into fertilizer. It seems as if this would be a no-brainer and would be a relatively cheap process. The Water Hyacinths are plentiful and are definitely self sustainable. Then again, these are all just stupid thoughts from someone growing weary of pulling the hyacinths from the Frog Pond.........Other thoughts. Why do I keep leaving any Water Hyacinths in the pond if I just have to yank out hundreds upon hundreds each year? Why are there so many weird critters in my Frog Pond? Why do I even have a Frog Pond? Yep....odd thoughts.
