Did I mention Brian bought a boat last year? Not just the canoe, but a real, Key West, 23 ft. T-top walk-around outboard engine BIG boat with a little sleeping chamber and a “head” which hasn’t quite been figured out yet. Yeah, eat your heart out, Skipper!We took it out once, then became super busy, then I had to ruin everything by getting a full-time job. And now this oily mess. But we took a chance, and last Saturday, June 26, Brian and I rode out to Ship Island, one of the islands that makes up the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The reason the Mississippi Sound is so calm and so good for shrimping is because these islands intercept the surf 12 miles from the shoreline.
Ship Island is also home to Fort Massachusetts, a fort that was built from 1859 to 1866 to protect the deep water harbor and major shipping route into Port New Orleans. Confederate secessionists seized the fort in 1861 and forced workers off. Union soldiers aboard the USS Massachusetts came within range of Ship Island, and an exchange of cannon shots endured until the steamship reached safer waters. Though tagged by the confederates as a victory, they left Ship Island the following Fall. When the Union won, construction resumed with many of the materials coming from New England. Confederate POWs and Union convicts were kept there. Now, only 4-5 people actually live on Ship Island, and they are with the park services. 
Boats pull up on the North side of the island, dock, and then beach combers have their fun in the surf and sun on the South side of the island. It justified the existence of a Surf City on Hwy 90, something that had befuddled me for months. We spotted a dolphin on our way to the island, and on our way back, clusters of resting pelicans perched like sentinels on every other channel marker. I love pelicans.
It was a gorgeous day. I didn’t realize how WARM the water was. The girls and I had gone swimming once before, but we only went knee-deep. Brian and I had to swim from the boat to the Ship Island and the temperature was that of a lukewarm bath! Correction: Brian waded back because he could touch the sandy bottom. I swam. We talked to the park rangers about any oil washing ashore. Clusters of tar balls here and there, they said, and a clean-up crew had been there in the morning. 
The next day, oil clumps were lapping at island shores and along the Biloxi and Ocean Springs beaches. General help for clean up is discouraged without proper HAZMAT training and gear. Sort of the same message from the Audubon with whom I volunteered making calls to Florida volunteer prospects last Thursday. At that point, oil was not yet depositing on MS shoreline. It was the most rewarding cold calling experience I’ve ever had. We’re just recruiting help to stand by for specific projects: either roping off bird nests or posting signs or being a trained steward to patrol nesting sites, identify birds, and educate beach goers aka keep them away from nests. I spoke with several people who “weren’t from here” or who just moved to the area. The general attitude is that doing something gets you out of the house and away from the depressing news. The funniest response was when a lady thought I was calling about a race in Germany. No, M’am, no connection to the Autobahn. We do birds, not Benz’s.
I’ve also learned that hair donations from animals are not acceptable because “it’s not clean.” It has to be clean to soak up oil? Sorry Gretchen, we tried. Our Governor has been down playing the spill since May, and now, although it’s in the “sweet crude state,” he’s stating that we are underprepared and ill-equipped. Do you think so? How’d that happen? Granted oil was never pouring over the beaches, but it’s been hitting LA and AL and FL for the past month. Don’t want to lose those tourism dollars, but let’s get real. Whoever thought it was going to miss MS completely may as well have been whistling Dixie. Ha ha. I made a funny. Not funny. Sad. Let's not talk about it anymore.
What else is new in our Hood: we hosted Brian’s residents’ graduation bbq party this Sunday. All very nice people, got to meet the next class of endo residents as well. Had the girls spend the past week with us while their mom was in Boston. That was fun! Watched a lot of movies, made a lot of pink elephants (sprite and raspberry sherbet), and had a day of paper mache and painting projects, like personalizing Rachel’s MSU wooden letters for her dorm room. Danielle made a monkey. I never had so much fun blowing off homework, not since Seattle anyway. I’m so glad to have such a nice relationship with them. They’ve both promised to give a full report on tonight’s midnight viewing of the Twilight Saga’s “Eclipse.”
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