Gulf, Anyone?

Thought for the day:  Arizona has a town named Why. Mississippi responds with a town named ...   Why Not. 

It's hard to separate Mississippi from the mighty Old Man River of the same name. Unless you're like that intellectually impaired beauty contestant who, when asked to spell Mississippi, screwed up her face in concentration before asking, "The state or the river?"

Just a couple quick tidbits before going on to the pictures. Didja know root beer has its ... uh... root in Mississippi? Yup. It was invented there in 1898 by Edward Barq. And didja know there's an International Checkers Hall of Fame? Me neither. But there is, and it's located in Petal, Mississippi, where they actually hold international competitions. Son of a gun. Guess there must be a lot more to the game than I ever thought.

Okay, picture time.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast is one of the South's most popular seashore resort areas. It stretches twenty-six miles, from Biloxi to Henderson Point, averaging two hundred feet in width, making it the longest and largest man-made beach in the world. Natch, all that water means lots of fresh seafood, too. And if you get tired of the sand, sun, and seafood, there's plenty of Las Vega style casinos there that are only too happy to separate you from your dirty ol' money.

Edwards, Mississippi is home to the world's only cactus plantation. Cactus? Not exactly the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about a plantation, either, but what can I say? They feature more than 3000 varieties.

 Jackson's Thalia Hall hosts international Olympics-like ballet competitions. Only four cities in the world were sanctioned by the International Theater and Dance Committee to host these high-level competitions: Varna, Bulgaria; Moscow, Russia; Tokyo, Japan; and good ol' Jackson, Mississippi.

Old Spanish Fort, located in Pascagoula and built between 1715 and 1726, is now a museum. The world's largest shrimp is also supposed to be located there, but darned if I could find a picture of it anywhere. Maybe they turned it into the world's largest shrimp cocktail.

This is the grave marker for Captain Isaac Ross, located on his old plantation in Lorman. In 1834, he freed his 200 slaves, and in his will, arranged for his plantation to be liquidated, and the money used to send them to the new African country of Liberia. Although his family contested the will, in the end, his wishes were fulfilled. On his gravestone are the words His last will is graced with as magnificent provisions as any over which philanthropy has ever rejoiced and by it will be erected on the shores of Africa a monument more glorious than marble and more enduring than time. Guess what the former slaves called their new place in Liberia? Mississippi. And there, they built mansions like the ones they'd left behind in the United States. The plantation in Lorman, although in various stages of ruins, was purchased last fall, with the intentions of rebuilding and restoring it to its original splendor.

Fittingly, the B.B. King Museum can be found in the town where he was born: Indianola. The museum is straight ahead in the picture, and the building to the right is an old cotton mill. The Mississippi Delta is considered the birthplace of the blues. And B.B.? Well, he was ... the king.






How about a little musical interlude?  Here's a taste of  B.B. King's wailin' Delta blues:

Did you know Mississippi had a petrified forest???

Windsor Ruins

 

Windsor, near Port Gibson, was the largest antebellum mansion ever built in Mississippi. Built in 1860, it survived the Civil War, but was destroyed by fire in 1890. Twenty-three columns are all that remain, and these Ruins of Windsor have been featured in numerous movies.

How about THAT?

A marker at Friendship Cemetery

This is one of the markers at the Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, where "flowers healed a nation."  On April 25, 1866, the local ladies placed flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers. This act of kindness led to what we now know as Memorial Day.

Longwood, built in Natchez circa 1858-61, is the largest octagonal house in the United States. It was originally designed by its owner Dr. Halder Tush Nash to include solar panels, strategically positioned mirrors to reflect the sun's rays to heat water. When the Civil War started, the Yankee workmen dropped everything and headed north. The house remains unfinished today, and tourists can see the workmen's tools still lying where they dropped them.





Okay, let's move along, and see what laws are still forgotten in the land of cotton and catfish:

• If one person is a parent to two illegitimate children, that person will go to jail for at least a month. 
• It's illegal to teach others about polygamy. 
• It's against the law for a man to seduce a woman by lying, and claiming he will marry her. (It's okay for women to do so, however. Men don't mind.)
• Private citizens may personally arrest any person who disturbs a church service. (Think it's possible for a minister to disturb a church service? I mean, some of those dudes disturb the congregation when they preach too long ...)
• Cattle rustling is punishable by hanging.(Yowza. That oughta put a damper on recidivism.)
• It's illegal for a male to be sexually aroused in public. (Reckon they feed the teenagers salt peter?)
• In Columbus, waving a gun in the air will earn you a larger fine than actually shooting it.
• In Temperance, it's illegal to walk a dog, unless he's wearing a diaper. (Makes pooper-scooping easier, huh?)
• And in Tylertown, it's against the law to shave while in the middle of the road.

Okay, boys and girls, it's that time again. It's time for (ta-DA!)

The Weirdest News Stories of the Week

***  These guys from the Netherlands may be brilliant computer gurus, but their sense of fashion leaves a little bit to be desired. Erik de Nijs and Tim Smit recently unveiled their new creation, which they've dubbed  Beauty and the Geek. It's jeans ... with a built-in full-size Bluetooth enabled keyboard. (Talk about a laptop!) Integrated speakers and a wireless mouse are included with the pants, and the invention works with a USB device and wireless connection. The idea is to allow users to walk around, but still be in control of their computer. Okay. Um, what I'd like to know is ... how do you wash these things?

*** A couple days ago, police pulled a car over not too far from where I live here in Georgia. The offense? Driving too closely to another vehicle. But as it turned out, riding a bumper wasn't the only crime being perpetrated. Police found a bumper crop of counterfeit Nikes in the car, as well. Seventy-eight boxes of them, which one officer immediately recognized as being fake. How, you ask? There was a little problem with the image of Michael Jordan on the boxes. It seems he had ... eleven fingers.

*** Man, is there anything you can't find in Walmart? How about a spouse? It worked for a couple in North Carolina, anyway. She was a cashier, and he was a customer. Now, they're man and wife. And they tied the knot right there. In Walmart. In layaway. And they're now spending their honeymoon in housewares. (Just kidding!) But ya know, come to think of it, if that store is open 24 hours a day, and has a grocery store, ya never know.

*** Not to pick on North Carolina, but ... well, okay, so maybe I am. An agent from the state's Department of Health and Human Services, who was inspecting a Raeford elementary school, confiscated a pre-schooler's lunch this week. She claimed it didn't meet USDA nutrition guidelines. And what terrible lunch did her mother pack inside of that paper bag? A turkey and cheese sandwich, (gasp!) a banana, (horrors!) potato chips, and apple juice. Criminal, huh? Oh, don't worry. The poor child didn't go hungry. She was provided with school-made chicken nuggets. And a $1.25 bill. Talk about invasive! The agent's superiors say they don't know why the lunch was confiscated, because it appears to have met the guidelines. Know what? Even if it didn't meet the guidelines, at what point did that agent have the right to stick her nose into that child's brown bag? Good thing nobody did that when my kids were in school. I probably would've been arrested. Not for the food, but for the contraband ... the stupid pictures, notes, and corny jokes I used to write on their napkins. (Ya see, some of them were in very bad taste.)


                                       Until next time, take care of yourselves And each other.

Dontcha Know What Fish Do in There?

Thought for the day:  Never waste your time arguing with fools. They'll bring you to their level, and then beat you with experience.

Don't worry. No arguing here.

Nope, today we're all about peace and love, and all that kinda good jazz. Like laughter.

Yep, time to look at some fun signs, this time, signs about some of our animal friends.

I've gotta say, that last one is my favorite. Okay, time for me to go splatter some attention on my editing. I hope y'all have a super day.

                                Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.

Words to Warm a Lifetime

Thought for the day:  One kind word can warm three winter months.  [Japanese proverb]

Woo HOO! I'm playing in my very first blogfest today, and the object is for us to dig up the roots of our writing dreams and try to turn them into a pretty little posy for your reading pleasure. I'll see what I can do.

Hmmm, so where did it all start for me ...?

                                           In the beginning, God created Heaven and earth.

WHA-A-A-T???

Too far back?

Okay, well, contrary to what some people may think, I wasn't actually around for THAT beginning anyway, but sometimes it feels like I've been in love with the written word since MY beginning. Matter of fact, if there had been better lighting and more room in my mother's womb, I'm pretty sure I would've been reading a good book or tapping away on an Underwood before I was even born.

When I was a kid, I made up stories for a bunch of other kids one hot summer. They'd gather round, and I'd spin a tale. Just like Uncle Remus. (Only I was a girl. And skinny. And white.) It was kinda neat that so many gathered to listen, but I also realized the shady spot we met in a neighbor's yard might've played a role, too.  Anyhow, if I wasn't making up fairy tales on the fly to tell my friends, I was writing stories, reading stories, and writing some more. But my real  AHA moment came when I was in fifth grade. Something happened that year to make me believe I just might have some real writing talent.

That was the year of the big essay contest.

I can't remember for sure which organization sponsored it, but I think it was the American Legion, and the topic was brotherhood. Wait a minute. I should capitalize that. Make that Brotherhood. You see, there was a whole lot of hoopla about this contest, with politicians pontificating about it, and a whole host of cool prizes waiting for the lucky winner.

                                                         And it wasn't me.

I didn't win a cool trophy or plaque.

I didn't win money. (Not even a little bit!)

And nobody put a blue ribbon around my neck.

But what I got was just as good. Maybe better. My teacher, who happened to be one of the judges,  told me every single one of the judges loved my essay. In fact, they all voted for it.

 So why didn't I win?

Um, my essay was too different. It didn't fall within the parameters of what the sponsors wanted a student to say. You see, I said something about how people tend to align themselves in sides of them vs. us, and the only way we'd ever have true unity and brotherhood in this world is if we found a common enemy from beyond it. Yeah, I know. Not exactly rah-rah, Mom and apple pie stuff, huh?

But my teacher said the judges loved my writing. 

And I've been hooked ever since.

The point is, Mr. McGrafft had no reason to tell me. But he did. So I'm thinking  we shouldn't hesitate to express kind words of encouragement, either. Ya never know how your words may influence another person, or how they may spark that person's dream. Kind words may very well warm much more than that Japanese proverb's three months. After all, they've kept me warm for a lifetime.

                              Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.