Walking

I've started walking again at lunch.  I've mentioned it before but when you live in a state that leads the nation in obesity and has sidewalks few and far between you don't see a lot of people walking.  Add to that, the knowledge that its been in the 40's around noon in a sub-tropic place where most people are cold when it drops below about 60 and you have a recipe for eccentricity.  Hopefully, no one calls the police on the dangerous walking woman.

This is the railroad switch near my library.  While, it's very annoying to be "caught" by the train, I love that I get to see the trains every day.  You may think it's crazy but I think there is something very appealing about the the railroad tracks and the bascule bridge farther down the line.  I know some might see it as industrial and bleak but I think it has a certain kind of attraction. 

Photo: Downtown Pascagoula, West of Pascagoula Street

Hound Dawg's Field Trip

The Finman, Hound Dawg, and I all found ourselves at the beach this afternoon. We decided to try out the new beach front on Front Beach in Ocean Springs. In truth, it's not that new. I guess people have been enjoying it all summer but we generally visit a different beach when we beach walk.

The improvements made to the Front Beach post Katrina are very nice, wide sidewalk with an attractive seawall, fire pits, and those little shower thingies to wash the sand off yourself when you leave the beach. In fact, if you glance above you'll observe that Copper Dawg thought the shower thingy innovation quite nice on a warm sunny day. We hit quite a few of those as we meandered the length of the beach.

I was very glad to see that they've used native plantings in the landscaping. In a few years, barring catastrophic hurricanes, the beach front will be even more attractive.

Dinner in NOLA

Last night, I was invited to tag along with visiting family as they drove to New Orleans to share dinner with my Big Sis. I'm so glad they invited me along. It's been a while since I strolled in the Big Easy and it was lovely to walk around with my cousins and share in their enjoyment of the French Quarter.

Sometimes, in enjoying my own little piece of the Gulf Coast I lose sight of how much I enjoy the city, and what a quick little drive it is to New Orleans. In fact, it's such a quick little drive that one can even go in the evening, get back for an almost full night's sleep, and be at work in the morning. (I almost felt like I was living my 20's again.)

Photo Above: After dark view of the Riverwalk along the Mississippi River.

Downtown Walking

Another building where I take WAY too many photos.


I happened by this last week, National Day of Prayer Observance on the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse.

Happy Monday all, hope your week is off to a good start.

Halfsies

I saw this house one day from the highway. It's actually quite close to the library, though not on a main street. One day last month, Fin was kind enough to walk by the house with me so I could take photos without worrying too much about someone stealing my camera.

After a few minutes of constant shutter action Fin asked, "What's the fascination?" For a few seconds I'm stymied. I mean really, absolute ruin DOES fascinate other people, right?

"It's like half a house," I say. Then I add, "Or like one of those doll houses where you look in the back and the whole house is exposed so you can move the dolls around." In my mind, it makes complete sense, people lived here, were happy and sad, cooked meals, made love, the whole shebang. This was a home, part of a story. Now, it's just a memory. To me, that seems photo worthy.

But then, Fin thinks it's a bit strange that I like wandering cemeteries. I find them peaceful. Of course, cemeteries tell parts of stories too and I guess in the end, that's what this boils down to. I like this house and it's photo worthy because it is part of a story. Someone painted the a front room blue and the kitchen yellow. It may be a story I don't know but it's a story nonetheless.

Morning Rambles

Milton and I often take a walk around the yard in the morning before work, just to see what might have happened in the night or to see perhaps what's lurking around out there. We don't generally find a lot going on. Most of the time our walk is made up of me fuming at the birds for taunting behavior as they call so very loudly from the trees but stay neatly out of camera range. We do however catch the amazing moment here or there, like this spider web glistening in the dew.

This week, I'm missing my walk with Milton. So this morning, I faced the cold, and braved the streets of Jackson for an early morning ramble. I had such a nice time. Our hotel, where most of our classes are held is in the Fondren neighborhood of Jackson. This makes for very nice walking and even though the south is not known as a pedestrian friendly environment I managed to find some sidewalks and saw a few others striding about.

As Milton is back at home on the coast, this morning I was looking for a new rambling friend. Imagine my delight when I found this low maintenance Dalmation. I wonder what his people thought when they looked out their front windows to see a woman sitting on the street in front of their fire hydrant taking photos. I wonder if they get that a lot?