Don’t Forget Mississippi

There is a stereotypical picture of Mississippi, and it has little if anything to do with the part of Mississippi I called home for nearly a decade. The Mississippi Gulf Coast is in some ways a state all its own, and if you include southeastern Lousiana, the Alabama Gulf Coast, and the Florida panhandle, it would qualify in a cultural sense to be its very own state.

But New Orleans pretty much overshadows this fictional state, which I never found to be THAT horrible, whatwith my love for New Orleans and all. But it is somewhat frustrating that the general U.S. populace never comprehends that the stuff that happens along this stretch of Gulf Coast implicates more than just The Big Easy. One of the easiest ways to offend a citizen of the Mississippi Gulf Coast is to mention that you thought Katrina only affected New Orleans.

Well, the BP oil spill is a little bit of a replay. The precious Lousiana marshland gets the majority of the press, which is understandable. But don’t forget Mississippi. And Alabama. And Florida. This environmental disaster is a biggie.

I ran across THIS ARTICLE on Salon.com yesterday that remembers Mississippi in regard to the oil spill. And I thought I would share it today.

Hurting for Haiti

I’m thinking about Haiti today and the devastating earthquake that may have killed more people than the mind can imagine.

A couple of years ago Jody and I made the decision to go to Haiti with an organization named Beyond Borders. It wouldn’t have been a mission trip in the traditional sense of that phrase; neither would it have been a traditional vacation. A “transformational travel” trip with Beyond Borders was a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between the rich (Americans) and poor (Haitians) by allowing the former to go live in the countryside with the latter for a couple of weeks. We were pumped about it.

But we didn’t go. Maybe it was whatever led us toward Beyond Borders that led us to think about transforming our own lives completely, but whatever it was, our summer plans to go to Haiti turned into summer plans to sell out and go to law school. So here we are.

But Haiti has never left our minds, and today’s news is just so disheartening.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and nearly the poorest nation in the entire world. And now, to add insult to injury, a horrible earthquake.

I would encourage everyone to learn about the nation of Haiti by exploring the website of Beyond Borders HERE, and if you are able to help in any way, I would likewise encourage you to trust them with your money to help.

From Wendell Berry

One of my favorite Sabbath poems from the Kentucky farmer-poet’s collection, Given:

I dream of a quiet man
who explains nothing and defends
nothing, but only knows
where the rarest wildflowers
are blooming, and who goes,
and finds that he is smiling
not by his own will.

Katrina: A Spiritual Journal

Once again, John Dobbs is my personal hero. He still had my “journal” in his massive collection of computer information, and I am grateful.

If I have properly figured out how to link to it, you can read it by clicking below.

Katrina. A Spiritual Journal. By Al Sturgeon

The World Famous San Diego Zoo

Well, I was worried (as always) about getting sunburned on our trip to the zoo, but for some reason Saturday’s weather was cool and rainy. Not the best zoo day in some ways, but at least I didn’t get sunburned. And, it probably was a lot less crowded than normal.

Anyway, the San Diego Zoo was as amazing as I always imagined it to be – just wetter. Here are a few pictures…

Let’s Play “Name That Flower!”

I know absolutely nothing about flowers. Except that when this one blooms in our flowerbed each year, it takes our breath away.

Click on the picture to see it in all its beauty. And if you know anything at all about flowers, feel free to tell us what it is.

Probably the most dramatic sight to see post-Katrina in my town was the wreckage of the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge. Most everyone who came to volunteer ended up standing at the bridge, snapping pictures, trying to capture the unbelievable scene. Today, driving to Biloxi to visit a nursing home, I snapped a picture out my front windshield from close to the spot where many of you out there have stood. It is good to see progress, no?

We shared a great lunch at our house yesterday with Judge Sharon Sigalas, Jackson County CASA Director, Frances Allsup and her family, and fellow CASA volunteer, Dana Mitchell, and her kids. Great food, great conversation, and great people.

Well, I’m two for two in the lunch department. Hillary is out of school for Dr. King’s holiday, and we shared a great lunch at Coffee Fusion with my friend, Tom. I suspect I’ll tell you all more about it a little later on.