Hunting for Magic!

  I have often said that the Bayou is a magical place full of mystical beings.  While this may fully be due to my wild imagination, one cannot help but believe that there are a lot of unseen entities dwelling among the palmettos, hiding beneath the ferns and playing in the creek bottom.  Back before the old dog became incapacitated, he and I would wander aimlessly in search of the magic.  We often found it.  Somewhere deep in the woods, a feeling would surround us then, invariably, a presence could be felt.  Usually, a critter of some sort would be found hiding among the leaves or staring down from the treetops.  Whether these critters were magical to others remains to be seen but they were (and still are) to me. 

  Now that Mr. PJ has fallen too weak to hike, he and I spend more time inside.  His days are spent napping on his bed and I piddle about making clue hunt props.  The old dog's health and happiness have taken precedence over my hikes.  Still, I occasionally get to slip out the back door when he is in a deep sleep.  It is then that I continue my search for magical beings!  

  Down behind the old pump shed, the new path twists and turns beneath some huge magnolia trees.  Their thick canopy pretty much blocks out the sunlight and gives the path an almost ominous flare.  It was here that I found the tiny mushroom that just begged for some elfin creature to dance upon its cap.  I photographed the mushroom but never once laid eyes upon the elf!  Perhaps, later in the week, another hike will prove more productive!  

  Now before you think I have flipped my lid, my magical creatures are merely whatever happens to be found on the short hikes.  It matters not if it is a tiny mouse nibbling the mushroom or the wily bobcat slinking beneath the ferns in hopes of catching a rabbit.  Being in their presence is enthralling so...magical creatures they are.  Right now, I can use all the magic I can find.

A Fallen Limb or a Bright Idea!

  The weather did not cooperate with plans of a bit longer hike with the old dog. He had a good night and I thought perhaps he might wish to amble about the place.  Instead, a steady rain put a nix on that idea.  I did manage to slip out to the greenhouse to putter for a while but he stayed on his warm bed which was probably for the best.  

  Just beyond the greenhouse, stands a live oak tree.  It was a small limb that caught my eye this rainy day.  The branch had been broken in the recent winds and landed squarely on the back deck of the greenhouse.  What made it interesting was the fact that it was covered with moss and had a lovely little fern growing where a twig had once been trimmed.  It did not take long for this chunk of wood to capture the imagination and send those wheels in the brain to flying.  I could use this!  If it is at all possible to keep this whole little "garden" alive until October, it will be perfect to use as a prop for this year's Clue Hunt on the Bayou! (Yes, that event is always on the forefront of my brain as preparations begin in January of the event of the year that happens in October!)  This year's theme calls for the greenhouse to be transformed into a swamp witch's hut.  Mosses, ferns and lichens will all be needed to do the deed!  In a sense, I will be landscaping my greenhouse!

  The wildly flying imagination could see just how the transformation will take place.  It has to begin now so each part looks perfectly natural.  My plan is to be on my own clue hunt of sorts as I search out each item that will soon be growing in the little hut!  This make believe world will probably be my favorite yet since the onset of the clue hunt some seven years ago!  (Oh, my!  It is hard to believe that this will be the Seventh Annual Clue Hunt on the Bayou!! Fun times!)  So...rainy weather is my friend.  It will aid me in my efforts to transform the greenhouse into a moss, lichen and fern covered dwelling!  What an undertaking this will be and, to think, it all started with a fallen branch!

The "Return of the White Trees" or the "Floating 7"!

  While not quite as enthralling as the original "White Trees' tale of long ago and the repeating episodes thereafter, today's White Tree was unique.  The tree contained a "Floating 7".  Now the mystery broadens!  As you may recall from a post several years ago, the White Trees are a sort of eerie incident that has occurred often in this general area. It usually involves wayward kids that are snooping around in places where they should not be.  My first recollection of the Trees was when my brother and I happened upon a portion of the woods that was creepy and, yet, compelling.  As preschoolers, we were chasing a piglet that had escaped the confines of its pen when we came across a dark "tunnel" of sorts that opened into a glen of white trees that were seemingly lit by some unseen force.  It frightened us.  Although something told us not to enter the area, we were almost lured there by the sight.  Later when we told Pop about the incident, he used it as an example of not "going where you do not belong".  That was all that was said of our frightening experience.  Years later, my own sons experienced the same thing and were shaken by the sight.   Then...later still, my oldest brother finally opened up about being scared by a similar sight as a kid.  All of these sightings (whether real or figments of our imaginations) occurred nearly in the same place.  Sort of eerie to know we all experienced the same feeling of angst with the vision.  To this day, no one has given me a satisfactory explanation as to what we had all experienced.

  The "White Tree" of today was a thing of beauty not a thing of trepidation.  While out on a hike with the old dog, Mr.PJ, I noticed dark clouds to the north.  The sky was quite ominous and made my steps a bit quicker.  As I rounded one corner of the path, I looked back at the clouds and saw that the setting sun had caused a black gum tree across the Bayou to almost gleam.  A White Tree!  I stood in awe of the beauty.  It did, however, bring back memories of a time long ago.

  Perhaps the angle of the sun explains all of the other White Tree episodes.  Perhaps the minds of youngsters wrapped up in wild imaginations accounts for the incidents. Perhaps there actually is some weird, unearthly and almost sinister scenario that can only be seen at certain times and by certain people.  Who knows?  This "White Tree" has a "floating 7"!  Maybe that means something!  Yeah, I know.  There is just a dark spot on the branch but it sounds much more fun to be a floating 7.  The mystery broadens and the plot thickens.