Mississippi Gulf Coast

 Sunday was a drizzly, windy,  cold day so we drove to the coast and dreamed of beaches, boats, and swimming. The wind was blowing in from the water making small white caps and sending the sand skidding across the highway. A brave wind surfer had the waves to himself  as he rushed along and was sometimes actually lifted from the water.


The 26 miles of beaches are man made.  The sand was pumped in mechanically years ago. The water is rather shallow since it is a sound protected by  barrier islands that are further offshore. When I was a child it seemed we could wade a block out and not be deeper than up to our knees.

This area has been almost totally destroyed twice in my lifetime, most recently by Katrina, and covered in black crude oil from the BP oil spill in 2010. Memories fade and people return to build again. Close to New Orleans, it was always the place to retreat to in hot summers. Huge mansions lined the road on the side across from the beach. Only concrete slabs mark many of those places now.

Many come for the gaudy casinos that have grown like mushrooms and were quickly rebuilt after hurricane Katrina. Beautiful facades hide smoky, noisy, tawdry game rooms that echo with the electronic fake sounds of coins spitting from the slots (everything is mostly digital now). It does bring visitors and money to the coast in the job starved region.

The fishing boats were waiting for the shrimp season to begin and the sharkhead souvenir shop is being rebuilt after having washed out to sea with Katrina.