Biloxi and Ocean Springs

This morning I was back to a down jacket and gloves. The entire upper SE is again experiencing frost and freeze warnings. Hopefully the next Spring teaser (due in a few days) will actually last.

I drove East to check out a couple of destinations in the neighboring towns. In Biloxi, I stopped to see the Camille and Katrina memorials. The Katrina memorial, made of recovered ceramic and glass tiles is beautiful. Unfortunately, the shape, exposure and placement of the flagpole were not well thought out. The flagpole is so close to the structure that it is impossible to get a nice photo of it. I finally resorted to an iPhone pano. Nothing much to do about the exposure. The hurricanes downed a number of Oak trees. Artists were then allowed to carve and paint the stumps. I was only able to find the one next to the memorial. Some enterprising person needs to create a map.

I then continued East to the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs. In Ocean Springs I found the counter culture that I am apparently always seeking. It is a very cute down, lots of boutique shops and restaurants. And the requisite health food store. It houses the museum dedicated to Walter Anderson, a beloved artist of the Mississippi Gulf region. Anderson was initially inspired by Horn Island, one of the barrier islands. He would row the 12 miles to the island and only return to the mainland when his provisions ran out. He struggled with mental illness for much of his life and, as a chain smoker, died prematurely of lung cancer. Nevertheless he left an incredible body of work. The museum is connected to the town community center, whose walls are completely covered with a continuous mural painted by Anderson for free. John, who will be 90 in a few months, was waiting to explain all of the different vignettes on the walls, as well as to tell us about the life of Walter Anderson. He was entertaining and informative. He had been involved in creating the museum back in the 1980s, which also involved working closely with the Anderson family, so was a font of information. I only hope to have his mental acuity at almost 90.

I then took a short walk in the Twelve Oaks Nature Preserve . This is named for the old and majestic Oak Trees that dot the property. The trails meander through a thick forest and lead to a view of the Bayou.

After a short break in my room to download, edit and process, I decided to go out again for dinner. I knew there was a local place that was popular with both locals and tourists and I was looking for another conversation. Initially I sat next to a family group of three generations from Baton Rouge who was in town to see the volleyball game of one of the young members. I did get some tips about what to see in Baton Rouge. They left and an older gentleman sat down next to me. Then things got more interesting.

I’ve been waiting for a chance to have a conversation with someone with a different world view than mine. The guy from Cafe 247 didn’t really count because it was a diatribe, not a dialogue. This gentleman - also John - asked me where I was from. I explained I was from California, to which he replied, “I’m sorry.” That was my cue. He led with the assumption that we had different political proclivities. Of course a completely invalid assumption just based on my current State of residence, but OK, let’s go with that. We did have a civilized conversation, in that there was no yelling, cursing, name calling or other nastiness, but in the end, it was a disappointment. I kept trying to point out areas in which I thought we might agree; he kept looking for areas about which we would disagree. Although we had what superficially would be called a dialogue (although I kept having to remind him to actually let me finish a thought), in the end there was no room for actual information exchange. Upon reflection, I believe that was because he could not get past his dogmatic party affiliation, script, talking points and sound bites. Once labels are applied, no room to maneuver exists. We covered all of the requisite topics: climate change, health care, immigration, racial injustice, etc. Not surprisingly, one of the most frustrating topics for me was his view on criminal justice, including the sub topics of racial inequity, mental illness and substance abuse.

Ultimately, I thanked him for being willing to engage and to have a polite conversation. I’m not convinced it was a dialogue. I’ll have to think some more on what I might have done differently, or what other information I might have provided. Regardless, I think that just having the conversation is a baby step forward. I wished him a good evening and went out to try to capture sunset (there wasn’t one, too cloudy).

Tomorrow I move on to Jackson.