Yesterday around noon, after I had messed around with separating photos all morning, I was poised to take a nap when cousin Ellie phoned. There was a birthday in the family, and cousin Ellie phoned to ask if I wanted to ride down to the Coast to Gulfport, to the Island View casino with her and Big Jimmy, her brother. Okay, they arrived late--it was almost two pm before they came to pick me up. What I was mainly interested in was having lunch at The Island View because they have these big shrimp on the buffet. I'm talking about extra jumbo ones. These shrimp don't come from around here, I'm sure, but whatever their provenance, I love 'em.

So after stopping for gas and bathroom stop etc. we arrived at the casino. Ellie parked on the third floor of the casino parking garage that overlooks Highway 90--and right across the road was the Gulf and the beach. The gray waters of the gulf rose and fell in gentle waves on the sand. The sea air smelled fresh and ocean-y as always. It all still looks normal. I felt so badly knowing it's only a matter of time until it's all gunked up and unfit for man or beast, maybe for decades to come.

By the time we got there, the lunch buffet was over, so we played the slots for a while, and they wound up eating stale sandwiches at $7.50 a pop at the deli/snack bar--I had a piece of lemon bar and potato chips. Now I noticed that there weren't any Vietnamese at the casino, and there's usually lots of them at the casinos. But with the shrimping industry, their way of life, in jeopardy and probably on the way out for many years to come because of the oil spill--barring a miracle, that is finished. Times must be really hard for them.


It was just getting dark when we left. Ellie took a shortcut getting home, a road through the backside of DeSoto National Forest, a pitch black stretch of the lonliest darkest road you've ever seen. Short stretches of crumbly old asphalt, alternate with short stretches of gravelly red clay. Bumpety bump we went along, tho Ellie was driving slowly and carefully. A tree had fallen across the road and Ellie clipped the top of it as she drove into it and past it. I was thinking "let this old gal get home before a bear eats us or something."

So anyway, we made this trip to The Land Of The Bigggg Shrimp, and I got not one, nary a one of them. Oh well, maybe next time.

susil