Gulfport

I got up early today to catch sunrise at the beach. And I finally got one. Those of you who have been following since the beginning know that I kept being disappointed by sunrises and sunsets, usually due to weather. Well, I finally got one. Which was a good thing because we had a serious rainstorm starting about midday. I happened to be on my way back to the hotel and got caught in a massive downpour. It let up pretty fast, but dripped all afternoon.

Before that, however, I visited the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi (pronounced Bil-uh-xi). It is an interesting museum in that it consists of a bunch of small buildings clustered together. The non-historical parts of the museum were designed by Frank Gehry , also known for he Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. More about the history of the campus , including the impact of Hurricane Katrina, can be found on their website. They had a number of interesting exhibits, several concentrating on African-American contemporary art, and some showcasing the pottery of George Ohr .

The most interesting gallery to me was the Dusti Bonge collection. Her abstract art took many forms, from printing to photography to painting. I recognized the technique of looking for photo abstracts in the most unlikely of places. She collaborated with her husband, Arch Bonge, on sculptures. I had a very interesting conversation with Ligia M. Römer, the executive director of the Dusti Bonge Art Foundation. Among many other things, I learned that Dutch Caribbean Island, Curaçao, boasts the oldest Synagogue, Congregation Mikvé Israel, in the Western Hemisphere. It was apparently founded in 1651, by twelve Sephardic families who had originally fled Portugal from the Inquisition, ended up in the Netherlands, and took the opportunity offered by the Dutch West Indies Company to settle on Curaçao as they were guaranteed religious freedom. Who knows what you might learn in a random conversation?

I spent the rainy afternoon getting caught up with admin work, then treated myself to dinner at the Half Shell Oyster House . Little did I know it was Saint Patrick’s day, so it turned into a bit of a zoo. Fortunately I went early, so avoided the worst of it. By now you know that my habit is to sit at the bar and see who I can find to talk to. This evening, I met Aimee and Stuart, with whom I had a long and wide-ranging conversation. Aimee is a middle school teacher (kudos!) and also makes lovely natural scented soaps from goat milk, olive oil and coconut oil. Before the evening was out, she gifted me a rosemary and mint bar that I will be substituting for the hotel soap the rest of the trip. Stuart is a Colonel in the U.S. Army. Among other things, we discussed my work in Military court-martials. and it was interesting to get his perspective. Their home base is actually New Orleans, and I also got a lesson in pronunciation of certain words so that I would make slightly less of a fool of myself when I visit next week. They also gave me some great ideas for my itinerary tomorrow, which had been a bit up in the air.