It's Pirate Treasure!

   A few years back, I noticed a bright, glowing spot on the water right at the edge of the marsh.  This spot was on the opposite shore if I looked eastward.  It was late fall and right at sunset when the intense light appeared.  I was so adamant that one of the recent hurricanes had washed something ashore there that Mark paddled the small skiff to the spot to check.  He found nothing amiss.  In fact, by the time he got there, the "spot" had fully disappeared.  The sun had slid down behind the pines and fully blocked the beams.  We pondered this for quite some time but never figured out why the sun pinpointed that spot with its rays.  What was reflecting the light?  Our murky, muddy waters are not sparkling enough to cause this phenomenon.   Then, as seasons do, things shifted and the sun was not at the "perfect" angle to create the brilliant splash on the shore.

  Yesterday evening as we sat on the pier, the glow appeared again.  The sunset has now shifted enough to reflect on whatever is causing the glow.  There, at the edge of the marsh seated beneath a background of groundsel bushes and goldenrod, the shimmer was back, if only for a few fleeting moments.  I was tempted to ask Mark to paddle the skiff to the spot once again!  (Poor fellow!)  As we mulled over the possibilities, he mumbled something about pirate treasure and that was all it took to get the wheels going in my head!  Perhaps that is it!  Maybe some pirate ship made its way into the Bay and deposited treasure in that exact spot!  After many years and a goodly number of hurricanes, the gold doubloons are spilling out over the muddy bank catching the sun's rays!  Interesting thought, but I do believe someone would have already laid claim to the treasure if it was out in the open with a huge spotlight shining on it.  Although...pirate treasure would be something that my brain could wrap itself around and come up with a dozen or so tall tales to explain the shimmer across the Bay!

  Will we ever be able to explain what is causing our "bright spot" or shall we leave it up to speculation and let the "haunted tales" become another "Bayou Legend"?  I sort of like the latter.  Leave some things unexplained.   

Euphoria?

   The old adage of "Red sky at night, sailor's delight.  Red sky in morning, sailor's warning." holds true most of the time.  Sometimes, however, that red sky (or golden in yesterday's case) is eerily beautiful, if that makes sense.  We have had a good number of thunderstorms lately and after yesterday's rain, the sky turned remarkably golden.  Although I was inside, the vividness of orange lit up the room.  Curious, I had to head outside to see what was happening.  Seriously?  Not much other than the entire sky was orangish colored but it made the whole place "feel" different.  As I meandered through the back gardens, a feeling of inexplicable euphoria overcame me.  Since I was alone, I came to feel as if this "magical sunset" was meant just for me.  I quietly padded along the footpaths without a care in the world.  (Too bad that feeling cannot be everlasting.)  Soon enough a slight mist started falling again and forced me to take cover.

  Back inside, I could only admire the beauty through the window.  Still, I smiled.  I had been submerged into the mysteriousness of an early evening stroll. The smells, the sounds, the closeness of nature...always make the heart sing.

Portal to the Brighter Side!

     The sun had other thoughts today.  It was not up to the usual "rise and shine".  In fact, it made very little effort to even break through the clouds.  We are in that typical "rainy/cloudy/foggy" time of year so the drear was to be expected.  It does not bother me much as I still go about the chores regardless of the weather.  If I fretted about getting a little wet, not a thing would be done during January and February.  Drippiness abounds and there is nothing that can be done about it so you might as well embrace it.  So...the vegetable garden got a bit of attention.

  Late this evening, however, there was a "portal" to another world in the westward sky.  Even with the dark clouds, the bright sunshine beyond could be seen!  This was one of those "being in the right place at the right time" experiences.  What a lovely sight!

  Things like this make you fully understand that old adage about there being brighter days ahead.  Somewhere the sun is shining, the birds are singing and life is good.  Even if darkness seems to be closing in around you, find that portal to the brighter side of things.  It is there.  Search for it and know that tomorrow will come and the sun will shine...somewhere. I am happy with the slight glimmer today.  Life is good.

The Art Of Lingering

   Late this afternoon, I found an old camera that had stopped working a few weeks back.  I opened it up and found that the "chip" still had photographs on it so I did the whole rigmarole of getting the photos off and onto the laptop then discarding any that were a blurry mess.  One caught my eye and made me think that the "one good photo per day camera" had really tried its best on that one.  It was a picture of the sunset and, to me, those are always intriguing.

  The whole thing about this photograph being special may not be in the picture itself nor in the skill behind it but that I rarely get to watch the sunsets anymore.  Son frets over me being on the pier when no one else is around.  He keeps a watchful eye out for his old mom.  I fully understand his reasoning as I am not as steady as I used to be.  This photograph was taken while he was still working on the little skiff.  I had wandered down to see if I could help carry up any tools as he finished up his work.  The sky was darkening and he knew I would want to linger just a bit.  So...he found things to do while I photographed the sunset.  Then...we ambled up the hillside.  He was satisfied with the work on the boat and I was plumb elated with the opportunity to "linger".  It was grand!

Who needs lights?

   My little bit of decorating for Halloween meant putting a few pumpkins on the mantel in the dining room.  To be honest, that area looks like it has Halloween vibes all year so adding the pumpkins was all it took.  "Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate"...remember that poem from grade school?  That was going through my head when I placed the five Jack-o-lanterns in their home for the next few weeks.  "The first one said "Oh, my!  It is getting late!"  Yes, it is getting late...to be decorating and I have called it complete.  So, on to other things now!

  The five, glitzy pumpkins are from way back when the kiddos were young some 30 years ago.  Other folks would have tossed them a long time ago but not me!  They came complete with battery operated lights.  You can still get these at many different places but sure not for the $1 that I paid for them!  (I was amazed to still find the price sticker on the bottom!)  Now they are anywhere from $10 to $15!  I have treasures!

  I did not place batteries in the pumpkins as it does not bother me that they are not lit,  I thought that I would let them stay as they were instead of having to turn them on and off.  Well, that was the thought, anyway.  The setting sun had a different idea!  As I ambled through the room on my way to the kitchen, the pumpkins were all agleam!  The sun filtered through the trees, through the windows and hit the mantel in just the right angle to light my Jack-o-lanterns!  Well done, Mr. Sun!  Well done.

The Night Before

   Sitting and waiting is one of the hardest things for me to do.  The day was busy with hurricane preparations that must be done when you live on the water but now that the chores are completed, the waiting has started.  Is Hurricane Marco going to come our way?  Is Tropical Storm (maybe Hurricane) Laura going to follow the same path?  That, my friends, is anybody's guess and that is what makes the waiting so difficult.  What if all the preparations were done without purpose?  If the storms decide to go elsewhere, my hard day was for naught.

  This evening, I made one last run to the pier to check on the small skiff.  The boat has been pulled up into the yard but with the incoming tidal surge, it will need to be checked often.  It was on the final run before dark that the sky was ablaze with color.  Yep...the Night Before.  Those brilliant colors were the sun's rays bouncing off the gathering storm clouds.  Within a few hours, our weather can change dramatically...and for the worse.  Still, I am sitting here safe and sound in the Little Bayou House.  It has taken care of us through far worse storms and we are depending upon it to do the same with Marco and Laura.  The show on the horizon tonight was a bit deceiving for what is to come.  By morning light, the Bayou should  be rockin' and rollin' with Marco.  Stay safe, folks, stay safe.

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.

Settling in for the night...

  Late in the afternoon just before sunset, I feed up the old dog and then take him out for one last walk about the hillside.  Mr. PJ does his business while I observe whatever critters are busying themselves in the nearby bushes.  When he is ready, we make our way back up the hill and he gladly climbs on his bed.  There he will stay all snug until morning.  This routine has become so ingrained in the old dog's brain that he lets me know when feeding and walking time has arrived.  I had better not miss either!

  This afternoon, we also ventured into what used to be the garden.  Now the area sits barren while it awaits the planting of a fall garden.  Just as the sun was starting to set behind the pines, a lone dragonfly flitted past my head.  The critter lit on the dead twig that was caught up in the fence line.  This dragonfly seemed to be going to bed much like Mr. PJ does.  There was a little bit of twitching and turning before it found just the right spot to spend the night.  As I was watching, it occurred to me that I have never seen a dragonfly hunt at night.  They all seem to settle in on some twig and spend the night resting.   But then, I have never gone out dragonfly hunting at night to see just what they actually do "after hours".

   The idea of a sleeping dragonfly made me do a bit of research and my hunch was correct.  Other than some dragonflies becoming disoriented due to bright lights, the critters spend the night resting.  Occasionally, they may shift positions on a twig or flee if a predator comes too near but they are usually diurnal.  Rest easy, Little Dragonfly, rest easy.  Tomorrow, you will have a full day of hunting so get all the rest you can!

The Endless Beauty

  Sometimes you just have to stop whatever you are doing at the moment and marvel at the wonders of nature.  Although, humans claim to "create" great things of beauty, we can never compete with what is there naturally.  We gather inspiration from Mother Nature and then attempt to copy but can never....ever...rival her.  She has this beauty thing down pat and our feeble attempts fail massively no matter how hard we try. This evening while on the pier, I had to do just that.  I stopped and was left in awe of the splendor of the light show that was called a sunset.  It was simply breathtaking.  The sky was ablaze and I sat enthralled by the sheer power that created this old world.  

  As I sat staring at the western horizon, I thought of how blessed I am to live on this Bayou.  Here I was being treated to the spectacular show of lights, having a wonderful time visiting with a friend all the while catching our supper.  Not many folks can do that.  Not many folks care to do that.  While others are in glued to their TVs or computers, I am having the time of my life.  Yes, I realize it is not for everyone but living on the Bayou is definitely suitable for me!  I would not trade this for the world!

My Special Place

  I have long proclaimed that the cooler months provide the most incredible sunrises and sunsets.  Now that it is November and a bit nippy to be on the pier, the horizon has not proven me wrong.  The shows have been spectacular, to say the least.  While most of the color has faded from the foliage, it has simply been moved to the sky.  Each time the sun is sitting close to the horizon or is falling behind the pines, it appears as if the sky is on fire.  It is breathtaking at times.

  Heading to the pier can be a bit treacherous during the colder months.  When we have a heavy frost or even sleet, the pier boards seem to be not unlike a series of sliding boards.  If one is not careful with their footfall, disaster can strike! One misstep can be met with a huge splash! Wet clothes are not exactly to my liking when it is cold!  That said, I find it far better to wear my leather moccasins than some hard-soled shoe. The moccasins seem to grip the slippery boards better or perhaps they just freeze right to the board and give me a better step.   

  Still, slippery or not, dawn and dusk are favorite times on the pier.  The light shows and the presence of many critters thrill me!   The Bayou is an enchanted place during these times.   By the time most other folks are here, the fascination has waned and the Bayou becomes just another place to fish.  Oh, well!  Perhaps this was meant for me!

Picture (Puzzle) Perfect

  I have a very sweet and talented friend who creates puzzles for her social media friends.  I am blessed to have her, not only as a friend but as a family member!  Her puzzles give me a much needed break during the day and add a bit of brightness to the world of the internet.  While on the pier the other evening, I took several pictures of the sunset.  It occurred to me that the sunsets and sunrises that I view on a daily basis could make some of the most gorgeous (albeit difficult!) jigsaw puzzles.  I am not sure just how long a puzzle of, say, a thousand pieces would take me to do with the colors in the horizon being exactly the same as in the reflection on the water.  Which piece would go where??

  The thought of jigsaw puzzles of the past and the ones of today made me giggle.  With technology giving us the opportunity to do the puzzles on the computer, we do not have to fret over lost pieces.  Back in the day, a jigsaw puzzle of a thousand or so pieces would take over the dining table in a lot of homes.  Folks were destined to eat in the kitchen because the "table was occupied"!  The tiny cardboard fragments with a bit of the image would be strewn on the edge of the table with the work space taking up the center.  Folks would wander through the dining room and invariably just "have" to set a piece in place.  The urge to find a fitting part was too strong to pass!  It never failed that one or more integral pieces would go missing between the time the box was opened and the puzzle completed. Whether the tiny piece was dropped on the floor and inadvertently swept up with the dust bunnies or kicked under the buffet, there was always the feeling of sheer agony just looking at that gaping hole in the middle of an otherwise gorgeous work of art! That said, there was also usually that one person who just "had" to put in the last piece and who would hide a piece just to have the honor of completing the puzzle.  Fretful times for other folks but this was a glorious accomplishment for the sneaky puzzle finisher!

  Not too many dining tables hold the brightly colored puzzle pieces these days.  Folks do not have time to sit back, relax with family and friends while assembling a puzzle.  What used to be a bit of good family entertainment seems to have fallen the wayside.  Sad..but at least, thanks to Tina, I can still take a few minutes to click a piece in place on my computer!  Hmmm...with that thought, perhaps I should dig in the closet and pull out one of the puzzles from years past.  Yep, I still have the ones that the kids and I did back some twenty years ago.  Maybe....

Super Cloud Sunday!

  I am one of those weird people who do not get excited over a football game.  Being as it is Super Bowl Sunday, does not mean that I am glued to the TV.  As matter of fact, I do not own a TV.  When the large one that sat in the living room decided to die, I begged Mark not to get another.  He relented and settled to have the small one in the bedroom suffice.  Whew!  I found myself wasting far too much time staring at a stupid box.  It is a great freedom not to have the thing around anymore.  Still, while others in the world are glued to their TVs, eating all sorts of unhealthy foods and screaming their heads off at the players, I am meandering about the place doing all sorts of things.  

  Late this evening, I had a thought to check the shed doors to see if I remembered to lock them and I noticed a beautiful cloud over the Bayou.  Ahh, yes!  If I had been inside, I would have never witnessed this bit of beauty.  

  In my own little world, I find  Mother Nature puts on a much better show than some overpaid guys chasing what is essentially a dead pig about a large vacant pasture.  Although, I must admit that the Super Bowl would be delightfully more amusing if that pig was still alive and the pasture was home to a hundred head of cattle.  Now complete off the scene with the natural occurrence of cow patties and things would be hilarious. That, my friends, I might consider worth the effort of watching.  Why!  I might even go so far as to fix some junk food snacks to enjoy while viewing such spectacle!  Since this is never going to happen, I think I will just continue my habit of observing Mother Nature at her best.

Weather Forecast? Clear Tomorrow

  Mark and I meandered down to the pier this evening just in time to watch the sun slide down behind the pines.  The setting sun blazed across the sky making the entire thing red.  Hmmm.  I have heard several old sayings about this and the weather for the coming day.  "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight" or the marine version of "Red sky at night, sailor's delight" both popped into the head this evening.  Those folks sure did like their sunsets, I suppose.   Both occupations seem to love red sunsets.  I pondered if there was much truth to the sayings.  I had read once that it all had to do with atmospheric pressure or some such scientific knowledge.

  I checked and sure enough, it seems as if both the shepherds and sailors were great at weather-forecasting.  Our day should be bright and sunny tomorrow.  According to knowledgeable folks, that all that redness is caused by dust and other small particles trapped up in the atmosphere by high pressure.  This supposedly scatters all the blue light and leaves only the red visible.  When we see the red sky at night, it means that a high pressure system is moving in from the west and with it comes dry and mild weather. 

  Mark and I watched that sun disappear and then headed back to the Little Bayou House. I can rest assured that my garden will need to be watered in the morning and that if I hang the laundry on the line it will get dry.  There will be no storms on the Bayou tomorrow!  The sky said so!

No Time to Think

  It would not surprise me in the least to hear that folks are growing weary of all my photographs of sunrises and sunsets.  I wholeheartedly admit that I do, indeed, take far too many pictures of the horizon.  It is almost a compulsion to grab the camera when I see the sky starting to redden.  There is almost something a bit mystical about the change from blue to red and orange.  I know, it happens almost daily and I should find interest in something else but it is hard to do when the pier offers such a grand vantage point.  Here lately, though, it has been hard to find the gumption to make the trek down the hillside.  I am not used to going alone..even though most of the time, my partner was a dog.  I miss Ms. Ez, the Bayou Dog to the point of losing interest in hiking.  

  This evening, though, was different.  I was baking brownies and only wandered through the living room long enough to grab my phone. When I did, I noticed that the sky to the west was brilliant red!  Oh, my! Without hesitation, I grabbed the camera and raced out of the house and down the hill.  Two things struck me about halfway down to the pier....one, I had forgotten to put on shoes and two, there was only three minutes left on the timer for the brownies and I did not tell Son to watch them!  The shoe thing did not bother me much as I am used to going barefoot but it was starting to chill down a bit!  The pier was wet from today's rain and those boards were cold!  The brownie time did bother me.  I did not want dry brownies! This would have to be a point and shoot situation.  Take a few photographs and race back up the hill.

  Perhaps this evening's rushed photo shoot was a good thing.  I did not have time to brood over the fact that my hiking partner was not there. My hurry to get to a photograph did not allow for time to think. Maybe it will get easier as time passes and maybe taking these baby steps will help.  Other than that, enjoy the beautiful sunset that the recent storm made possible for us!

Winter is Coming

  Winter must be on its way..at least up north.  The birds have been migrating our way for some weeks now.  This evening, I headed to the pier to check the skiff since we are due for some pretty stiff storms this week.  While there, I noticed that fish were breaking near the shore and longed for my fishing pole.  Just a few weeks ago, I had hauled the gear to the Little Bayou House and have yet to restore it to its proper place on the pier.  There, it is ready at a moment's notice but, for tonight, it sat far up the hill.  The sky started darkening and clouds were gathering.  

  Even though it was starting to get a bit dark to see, I caught a glimpse of some ducks far out from the pier.  A cluster of six mingled not too far from each other.  Four of the group had a distinct shape so, even though distance and lack of light prevented me a clear view, I recognized the ducks.  These were Hooded Mergansers!  The Hoodies are back!  Their wide crest and pointy tails were sure identifiers!  

  I love the little Hooded Mergansers.  They are usually some of the first ducks to fly into the Bay. After a few weeks, there will be hundreds of them in the Bay and many of them huddling beneath the pier to escape the stiff north winds.  During their stay, they will become accustomed to my presence and remain under the pier even when I wander down at sunrise.  Before dawn, I can hear their funny, little calls and soft splashes of water as they preen.  The Hoodies never cease to make me smile with their presence.  I am so glad they are back.  This is one of the reasons that I like winter so much!

Shared with a friend

  Once in a great while, you happen upon something that just takes your breath away with its sheer awesomeness.  I see a lot of things here on the Bayou.  Some tug at the heartstrings, some bring a smile and others border on jaw-dropping.  The one thing that these things all have in common...timing.  Pure coincidence in the works.

  After supper, I toted a few scraps of baked chicken out to Ms. Put, the Bayou Queen.  The old cat has seen most of her lives pass during nigh on twenty years here and she has seen better days.  Here lately, she is feeling a mite poorly what with the heat and her age.  She does enjoy a snack of chicken from the table now and again, though, so it was my treat to her this evening.  As I sat and watched her nibble the scraps and lap up a tiny bit of broth, I was treated to a remarkable sunset.  This one was not seen from the pier but rather through the treetops as I spent time with my dear old friend.  The Bayou Queen seemed to realize that the show was spectacular and that it was made all the more special by her presence.  She lingered a tad longer by my side than her normal hasty retreat.

  It is funny how this sunset lit up the one portion of the sky that was visible through the treetops.  I hurried down the hill and was not impressed nearly so much with what I saw.  Was my view so astounding because of the position under the trees or was it just a special moment shared between two old friends?

Goodnight, Sun!

  There is just something so peaceful about watching the sun set.  The day ending also brings an end to much of the turmoil of our lives. Darkness brings calm and quiet.  If I get the chance to scoot down to the pier and watch the sun slide down behind the pines, I feel that my day has been a success. All of the day's hustle and bustle slides down the horizon with that big, old orange ball.  'Tis time for rest.

  Back when I was a kid, the setting sun had a weird effect on me.  I can remember how I used to imagine that all the world was preparing for slumber.  (Back then, it never occurred to me that it would be a tad difficult for the sun to set at the same time worldwide but in the young, uneducated brain of a five year old..bedtime was bedtime for everyone. I thought of how all of the characters in my storybooks were finishing their porridge and turning back the covers on their beds.  It was great! Perhaps this was some ruse of my folks to get me to sleep but I figured if everyone else was sleeping then it was time for me to go as well. There was simply no use in staying awake if there was no one to play with me.  I would mentally start to prepare for bedtime as soon as the sun was turning the blue sky in to the dark oranges and reds.  If that sun was going to sleep, then so was I!

  So, that said, I will bid you a goodnight and hope that you, too, can leave your worries behind you and have a most peaceful night's sleep.

The "Great Blue Orb of Tranquility"!

  Call me crazy if you like, (most folks do) but I have a great interest in the "unexplained".  I like weird and wonderful things!  If something occurs that is a tad unusual, I want to explore why it happened in the first place.  Son says that I just can't leave well enough alone but, then again, he readily has an answer for all of my questions.  (I love having kids that are smarter than me and, well, all of mine are!)  Anyway, if I come across a bit of quirkiness in nature or if I do something that has strange results, I am thrilled.  A lot of these oddities happen with my poor attempt at photography.  A lot of happy results are nothing more than huge mistakes!  

  My latest "happy" happened when I was trying to photograph an extraordinarily bright sunset the other evening.  There was hardly a cloud to be found and the sun was most gleaming!  I have no idea why this appealed to me so since I seem to be drawn more to the more colorful sunsets.  Give me a western sky filled with reds and oranges and I am one happy camper!  Still, this captivated me!  Out came the camera and I started snapping pictures.  Once inside, I viewed my efforts in capturing the beauty that had been set before me.  While the photographs fell into the "ok" category, one blip in the pictures intrigued me.  I had captured an ORB!!! Whoopee!  An orb!  Now don't get me wrong. I do understand that orbs can be just reflections but this one seemed different somehow.  This orb was brilliant blue AND had the upside-down scene of the yon tree in it! Well, now!  That was different!  If only there was a way to enlarge the "orb" so I could view it even better!  I am sad to say that my skills at computers is even more lacking than my skills in photography.  I could not enlarge the orb to the size that I wished.

  This is where my son, Michael, came into the whole scenario. "Obviously, you managed to photograph a dust mote, a bit of moisture or even a fleck of pollen that reflected an inverse image of the tree behind you and not the one between you and the sun."  Huh?  "Check out the picture in the "orb". It is upside-down alright but it is not the same tree as the one in the photograph and most orbs are just bits of something floating in the air and not a true orb." Well, that just sounded far too logical to be anything that I wanted to hear so I decided that a bit of imagination sounded far more fun!  Nope!  This is not a dust speck!  I refuse to believe that!  It is a mystical orb floating about the marsh and I read somewhere that blue orbs are special! They usually are signs of peace and calm but this was no ordinary orb!   This, my friends, was The Great Blue Orb of Tranquility and it reigned over the Bayou and all of its denizens!  The Orb was there to mediate all squabbles between the herons and egrets.  It was there to soothe the feelings of the otters when the nutria rats are feeling quite territorial. It was there to mediate between the pelicans and gulls. It was there to bring peace to all.  The Orb needed my help, though, as the trees were harboring ill-will...specifically the tree it was depicting. Since trees do not respond well to the efforts of the Orbs, it was my job to placate the feelings of that particular tree and ease its worry.  I had to find a way to mollify the anger of the Tree!  When I confronted the Tree, it told me that it was angry at the Smilax vines.  The evil vines were using the tree as support but were strangling it.  The Tree would soon die if they did not let go.  Aha!  That was most easy to fix! I told the tree that I fully understood its predicament and that I was there to reason with the Smilax.  All would be well with the tree and peace would once again be found on the Bayou!  The Great Blue Orb thanked me profusely and declared that I was official Smilax Soother! 

  Ok, ok, so none of this is true but you have to admit that my story was a lot more imaginative than the logical response that I received about my orb!  The only purpose that the story served, though, was to remind me that I really need to get down there and chop out some more of those pesky vines!  I do think it is far more fun to photograph blue orbs!

Circling the Sun

  My time on the pier seems to be getting better and better.  I get to see things that others miss.  Being outside at the right time has its advantages.  This evening while I was on the pier waiting for the shrimp to "come in", I was treated to not only a wonderful concert from across the Bayou but also a spectacular light show in the west.  Our neighbors across the Bayou were having a party and had one of the best singers that I ever heard at a local venue. She was incredible.  Her voice floated across the water as smooth as silk!  That bit of loveliness added to the amazing sunset.

  It is not often that I see a halo around the sun but, this evening, there was a beautiful one.  The rainbow almost completely encircled the sun but was the brightest on either side.  Even after the sun slid down behind the pines, the upper portion of the halo could still be seen for quite a while.  I sat in awe of this phenomenon and pondered just what causes it.

  The  halo is caused by light passing through ice crystals in the clouds. As the light passes through the crystals it is bent which directs it to different places in the sky. If it is bent at 22 degrees, it causes the halo around the sun.  (All of that information was gleaned from the internet!) It can be indicative of storms and is more common in autumn and winter.  

  I felt blessed to be able to have such an enjoyable evening.  The music and the rare (to me, at least) sun halo were the perfect setting for a bit of relaxation.

What was THAT?

The other evening, I was on the pier taking pictures of a gorgeous sunset.  There is nothing unusual about this as I seem to be there most evenings.  My pier is perhaps my favorite place in the whole world. I snapped photograph after photograph in hopes of capturing a wee bit of the phenomenal beauty that enveloped the horizon.  The sky was changing with each snap of the camera.  It struck me that incredible sights such as this should be shared with everyone.  As much as I feel that God created the view just for me, it is not so.  It is just my job to be there with the camera.

As I photographed, I noticed a strange incident occur in the sky just to the left of where the sun had slipped behind the pines.  Directly above one of my brother's large boats (but far in the distance), a large ball of light appeared.   If I had not just watched it set, I would have definitely been mislead into believing this was the sun.  "What could that be?" I pondered.  I kept photographing.  Something was most unusual.  Something that I had never seen before was occurring in the clouds above me.

I have yet to determine just what this light was.  Was it merely a reflection of the sun from beyond the pines?  Was it a glint of the sun off of an jet in the sky?  Perhaps it was Superman with a shiny hat!  Ok, most likely it was one of the two previous ideas but still this phenomenon baffled me.  Sometimes things happen that stir the mind but then require no explanation other than it is God's handiwork.