Fondren At Night

It was a pleasure tonight to see so many friends out at the Fondren Unwrapped event. I had the privilege of going up on the Fondren Corner roof for the first time, and this photo was one I took without a flash while resting the camera on a rail for a steadier exposure. We were the guests of Ms. Taylor who lives in the building (in one of the 25 cute 1 and 2-bedroom apartments), who is a friend of Todd's. The view from the roof here is to the East - on the left is the Conoco station at the corner of Old Canton and Lakeland, and in the foreground is the Fondren post office.

Bay St. Louis Artwalk

We had the pleasure of attending the Old Town Bay St Louis art walk this past weekend, and after uploading all the photos below of the hurricane's destruction I have to end on a high note by giving you this photo of life going on, or hope being born again. The artwalk is a once-a-month event in Old Town and it involves several business opening on Saturday from 4-9 with refreshments, live music and a stroll-around-and-see-what-you-find atmosphere. This eye-catching photo was of some wonderful artwork placed on the front porch of a local restaurant. I told the talented woman who painted these that her eye for placement was fantastic.

Fire Dog Saloon Site of Buffett Video

(The former) Fire Dog Saloon in beachfront Bay St. Louis, site of the recently-filmed Jimmy Buffett video for his song Bama Breeze. We took this photo this weekend on a tour of Bay St. Louis. Buffett's song is written about the Flora-Bama bar destroyed in Hurricane Ivan, but apparently Buffett found this shell of a restaurant fit the bill in representing the Flora Bama.

Bay St. Louis 'Hurricane Proof'

This photo, taken on Beach Rd. in Bay St. Louis this past weekend during our bus tour of the area, is of a "hurricane-proof" house, and I think that's enough said. Click on the photo for a better view.

Bay St Louis 'Outdoor Entertaining'

I felt a bit like a bottom feeder as we took our bus tour this past weekend in old town Bay St. Louis, listening to Hancock County historian Charles Grey detail what used to be here, and what used to be there. I don't want to bathe in anyone's misery, but everyone should realize the trials people from the Coast are going through. At first you might look at this and think "what a cute outdoor patio area these people have," but of course they are using the former concrete slab of their home for an outdoor seating area, because their nearby FEMA trailers are pretty cramped. This way, at least, they can enjoy their yard.

Bay St Louis, The Other Side

Our driving tour of Bay St. Louis this past weekend took us not only through the neighborhoods of former 'grande dame' houses, but also through the neighborhoods where regular people live. This family lost a home and they have made do with a still-standing shed, a ladder extended up to the treehouse, a pop-up tent and a motor home. Seeing this helps bring home what I have heard about the hurricane's destruction. It is hard to imagine living under these conditions.

Bay St. Louis House

This photo is part of our tour last weekend of historic Bay St. Louis. This beachfront house belongs to a well-known Coast bank chairman, and he and his family are still living there on the 2nd floor as they restore the rest of the house. You can start at the (former) beginning of the Highway 90 bridge in Bay St. Louis and drive down Beach Rd., and almost every house and business is wiped out. But there is this one stand of houses - about six in a row - that are still standing because of higher ground. The current Beach Rd. (which was put in by DOT after the storm) is about 8 feet lower than the former Beach Rd. because it was eroded so severely by the storm. So as we were driving, we were looking up at the houses and the front edges of their jagged sidewalks.

(The Former) Bay St Louis

Last weekend we took a trip to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, which is still struggling to regain its footing after Hurricane Katrina. We were lucky enough to go on a driving tour with Hancock County historian Charles Grey and he gave us a running narrative that sounded a bit like this as we drove along the beachfront: "This slab used to be..." and "This set of steps used to be..." It was sad, but there are plenty of people living there in FEMA trailers and making the best of it. Todd took this great photo out the window of the mini bus of a lonely live oak.

Pecan Tour 2006

We have been making the rounds picking up pecans this week. Last year Katrina threw everything off and it was a terrible year, and this year the trees are making up for it. This sack in particular is about 12 pounds and is really only half of our crop. Luckily the Fannin Rd. produce stand cracks pecans for you and then you shell them from there; otherwise we would have not gone to the trouble. We've already shelled at least 10 pounds and this sack is round number 2.

City of Falling Angels

I just finished listening to this book on audio, The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt. I really enjoyed reading his first book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a few years ago but this book was not nearly as enthralling. That could possibly be because I was listening to an abridged version, but I had thought I would get a lot out of the author himself reading the book to me. Anyway, this is a non fiction book and centers around the 1996 fire at La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy. Berendt inserted himself into Venice society not long afterward and wrote about the major players in the mystery surrounding arson charges, and other related Venetian scandals. I would recommend this book more as a history lesson and a description of the city of Venice rather than a whodunit. Berendt should have stuck to the States.

Mistletoe Door Decorations

It's pretty late at night and I do have to be at work in the morning, but I am wired after working at the MIstletoe Marketplace Preview Party, which was a lot of fun. It would have been more fun had I not had to work the entire party at the Silent Auction, so I'll have to go again when not working. But anyway, there were a couple of amazing things I saw. (1) The decorations were incredible this year as evidenced by the photo of the doors you see here, leading to some exhibits. (2) Some people were slap-faced drunk at this event and they had hired limousines to drive them around. I saw two stretch limos outside the event. (3) The buffet for the event was incredible and very impressive. (4) The crowd was huge. I will say that in preparation for the event, at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, there was a huge windy rainstorm, and it caused a lot of water to leak inside the event tent, and knocked over a bunch of things displayed at our silent auction, and got a lot of people (including me) completely soaking wet, and I totally wondered if the event would even happen, but it did, and I think those present would agree it was a success.

Mistletoe Buffet

Tonight was the Mistletoe Preview Party in Jackson, and this is a photo of the buffet - dessert section. The decorations and setup for the caterers for this Preview Party event was nothing short of Martha-Stewart-esque. The only setup I've ever seen that was more elaborate was a midnight buffet on a Carnival cruise. The decorations were everywhere. Crazy Cat bakers is the caterer who did the baking, and Cambi gets credit for chairing the Mistletoe decorations committee.

Mistletoe Silent Auction

Tonight was the Mistletoe Marketplace Preview Party which included the Silent Auction. As one of the co chairs of the silent auction, I have been consumed with the event for the past week. The event went great and I hope it raised a lot of money. This photo was a display of the Savannah Bee company and some luggage from Buy Me Gifts. Both are merchants at Mistletoe Marketplace. My congrats go out to Dorothy my other co chair and Helen our wonderful chairman. Both of them did a terrific job.