Hazy and Sticky

An August Morning Visit to Black Bayou

I’ve been unwilling to visit Black Bayou in this heatwave we’ve been experiencing. So I decided to go in the morning. While the oven wasn’t on yet, it was certainly pre-heating! The air is mostly still and sticky and it feels like you’re wading through it. The deerflies are annoyingly active. But at least it wasn’t 108, the record-breaking heat of yesterday. Also there is a haze in the air. The winds have shifted and are bringing smoke from win South Louisiana up our way. It’s easy to see in the distance, beyond the waterlillies.

The water is very low as well, since we haven’t had any rain. In fact, some of the trees look like they are greeting the fall! But the colors aren’t the natural progression of the seasonal changes, they are just indications of drought and heat. Because the water lilies are pervasive (they stretch as far as I can see), the birds such as the herons, egrets, and others, are feeding somewhere else for now. You can see the waterline on the trees, and recognize how low the water really is.

One limb has fallen on the boardwalk and you can see that it’s rotted from the inside, a big hollow log.

Even so, nature is pretty determined. There is still beauty to be seen and experienced, even on a sticky and still and dry day like today. This butterfly doesn’t seem to mind.

There isn’t much flora left at this point, but it can be found.

There were a few other folks out at the Bayou. One fellow was walking his beautiful pup, trying to teach him to sit and behave. I should have asked to take a picture. I didn’t ask the sole egret I saw today, and it looks like he might not be too happy to have his picture taken!

I saved my favorite photos for last. This young deer was wondering if I might be friendly, so she stuck around and let me take several photos of her. So beautiful, fairly young I would say, and not feeling threatened by me at all.

I may have stayed at Black Bayou a little longer, but I had reached my limit with the heat and stifling humidity. I’m so glad I went, though. It was good to be out in nature alone and hearing the hum and song of the sounds of the bayou.

Thanks for reading, liking, sharing, or napping. Whatever the case may be.