There is only one other thing that is hotter than the month of July down South and that is the month of August down South. It hasn't rained in Pascagoula for the past four days but amazingly my flowers are still alive, although a little scorched. A steady drizzle would be nice .. I don't think my nerves could handle anything beyond that. Yesterday I went to the doctor complaining that I was extremely tired again. I have a thyroid problem and was put on synthroid and for several months I was feeling great. I wasn't to come back for a year but I called for an appointment as I knew something was wrong. I got the results of my blood test today and the dosage was raised as the level of the hormone was out of whack again. I should be feeling like my old self in a couple of weeks. I know we all have to get something but I was sure hoping I would be the exception. Darn it! Well, here we are two years out from Katrina and we are still recovering. Katrina has, I believe, taught us all a lesson. Not the lesson of "Get out when a storm is in the Gulf". It goes deeper than that. Not only has it taught us to reach out to people, countless volunteers from all of the states have extended helping hands to speed our recovery. They work hard and the joy that radiates from the people they help is all the payment they want. There are so many stories of miracles in our areas, some great, some small. I met a wonderful couple yesterday and the husband gave me a book on local people's experiences during the storm before he left for an appointment. His gracious wife took me through their beautiful home they are rebuilding. As we talked, I listened to what she experienced on returning to find her home destroyed and I noted that the things that were lost didn't take priority over something that had belonged to a loved one. She possessed a calmness of spirit that was pleasant to be in the presence of. Afterwards, I drove around taking pictures. went home, took a pain pill that was prescribed to ease the pain in my legs. An hour later I was pain free but was so sick with an upset stomach that it wasn't worth it.

Beach

Beach

Beach

Beach

Beach

Beach

Beach

Washington Avenue

Washington Avenue

Downtown Gulfport

Gulfport, Mississippi (Continued)

I think that I will write down everything that crosses my mind today. Ought to be interesting huh? Many months ago, I mentioned the lack of humidity in our area, is it like the lake in Chili that disappeared in two months time? I thought about the day that Katrina made landfall and the strange rumbling we heard. I remembered that we had jackets on as we stood on the front porch because it was cold. Most prevalent is the fact that as the raging water came barreling down the street, we were not blown off the porch. I have wondered why the "sonic booms" have stopped, do jets not break the sound barrier anymore? We never get concrete answers .. it's always blamed on global warming.

What do you eat, what toothpaste do you use? Do you eat peanut butter anymore? I don't! It's frightening when "Peter Pan" is not on the grocer's shelves. I read it should be back in July but to me once tainted always tainted. We are to avoid the non brand toothpaste which would be easy but there seems to be no assurance when a brand name like Peter Pan was not safe. My daughter has no idea what to feed her two well cared for dogs anymore. So much of the pet food was tampered with. Funny ... I read an article the other day that said don't feed your dog grapes as it may kill them. So many things seem like nonsense. Manufactured pet foods were responsible for killing numerous pets .. not grapes. By the way, we had german shepherds for many years and not one of them would have eaten a grape if offered.

Crime seems to be on the upswing again .. a convenience store owner was killed yesterday in Biloxi and this morning a Moss Point man was shot and killed in D'Iberville by his estranged wife. People are exhibiting strange behavior. For the past two nights firecrackers are being shot at late hours in the area I live in.

The cities are rebuilding as slowly as the citizens. The casinos are the exception as are condos. Somehow, to me, it all seems wrong when people are still not housed properly. Wouldn't you think that with all the "big money" they put out, to get even more money, some of it could have trickled down to apartment complexes for the ordinary people? Why not be altruistic?

The picture below is of my niece's house on Washington Avenue.

Why does it seem that when catastrophe strikes that terrible tragedies seem to continue. There are numerous people who had rebuilt their homes only to have them destroyed again by fire. It has been a short time since the entire Coast was rejoicing when two lanes of the Bay St. Louis bridge opened to traffic. Yesterday nine construction workers fell from scaffolding when a pillar collapsed and plunged them into the Bay. Eight of them were rescued and taken to the hospital where one of them died from injuries. Today the body of the ninth victim was recovered. The memory that two people lost their lives building the bridge will remain with all who live here.

The next two pictures are not very pretty .. just a pile of rubble now.. the old Pascagoula post office. Whatever is built, will certainly be nicer than the Fema trailer.


There are many things taking place all along the Coast. None of it is fast but still we are inching our way to recovery. We will overcome. Katrina was said to be unprecedented, shouldn't have happened. Well folks, we have a lot of "shouldn't have happened" in our world today. The Attorney General of Mississippi has filed a lawsuit against the Governor of Mississippi and the NAACP is threatening to sue the city of Biloxi for not having a proportionate number of blacks in a particular school. I see both of these issues as a "ploy".

I didn't take many pictures today but I did get one of new construction.

Pascagoula, Mississippi

Pascagoula, Mississippi

My daughter ordered an interactive game called "Wii". I bet you have heard of it and probably have one yourself. I went over to her house today and we played. What a fun form of exercise, I am sure that tomorrow more than my knee will hurt. I was excellent at bowling, golf wasn't too bad. Playing baseball, I never hit the ball but when I was the pitcher, I struck them out. It was fun. On my return home, I took pictures of new construction.

Pascagoula, Mississippi

From time to time I feel as though I should post, although my heart isn't in it. Through Site Meter I am aware of who comes to my site and so "This is for you and thanks for your interest". I don't think my problem is boredom, as I am not easily bored. Katrina has revealed the good and the bad that has arisen because a disaster put Mississippi in the spotlight, albeit late. We are the state that people love to hate. Yep, that's us! I had my "rose colored" glasses on for awhile and thought that at last what I had always hoped for, was happening. I was wrong .. the slurs have never stopped. We are fat, lazy, ignorant, hillbillies and we should apologize for slavery. The Sun Herald newspaper online has an article on the subject and is taking a poll asking if we would apologize. The last time I looked "NO" was 79%. If Governor Barbour apologizes for the state, I guess that would be great but, you see, I had nothing to do with slavery so I have nothing to apologize for. Other people speaking for us destroys our individuality.

We have been a suffering people on the Coast and a great deal of money was earmarked for our recovery but it was held up because of the 10% match and then to add insult to injury it was put in the same Bill for getting our soldiers out of Iraq. President Bush had said he would veto getting out of Iraq at this time so they put us in hoping he wouldn't veto. Is that caring about us? To put us against all the guys that are fighting and losing their lives for our country was a low blow. Personally, it made me fearful of what the new regime is going to inflict upon us all.

I have read that more than 40,000 immigrants are in our state, where are they? Where do the stay? We have thousands of our people with no shelter except Fema trailers. The conclusion that I have come to is that we can't always believe what we read.

Although regular gasoline is $3.06 a gallon, that doesn't stop me from riding around looking for pictures of construction. Dave, Anita and children spent Memorial Day at my home. I made hamburgers the old fashioned way .. in a skillet. Sure beats McDonald's. I never understood the "hoopla" on such a solemn occasion. Life is not one big party.