Hey! Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I have many things to take care of first before I can get back into blogging. Occasionally, I drive around looking for progress but I have found nothing of interest to show you. We are all in some kind of normalcy at this time or maybe I should say complacency. It's a wonderment how we humans can adjust to bad situations isn't it? Of course, we would like to have everything restored that was lost in our areas but we are also anticipating the many new projects that are being planned.

We are experiencing another cold winter ... just about everything in the yard has shriveled up and died. Two steps forward and five steps backwards. At this writing, the yards look terrible especially the backyard with the charred wooden fence as a backdrop.

I have been painting whatever even slightly looks like it could use a coat of paint. I use my "cleaning the raingutter ladder" for painting too. I have been thinking about getting one of those bracelets where I can call in and say "Help! I've fallen and can't get up!"

Well, as you can tell, I am just babbling but maybe next time I will have pictures to share with you. Until then!

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Body of Gautier Soldier Returns Home From Afghanistan

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Body of Gautier Soldier Returns Home From Afghanistan: "A chartered plane carried the body of Major Michael Green home to Jackson County.

The Honor Guard, Sheriff's Deputies, civilians, and loved ones watched silently.

'He is a hero, a true hero,' Sergeant James Pitman said.

A hero whose family says was simply living out his dream of being military man.."

I am once again losing interest in writing about Katrina and how it affected our lives. I have focused on the "whole" people, not the "individual" people for over two years. I feel that if I continue writing the way I have that I will be trivializing the ongoing problems in our area. As I drive around taking pictures of new homes being rebuilt or a business being re-opened I can sense the anxiety that went into each endeavor. All of us everywhere have "one" lifetime to build or buy a home and, if good fortune smiles on you, there can be several. When a disaster strikes and your home is destroyed, you build amidst chaotic uncertainty. Not ... "Can this happen again"? but "Will this happen again"? We already know it can but praying it won't!

I have personally been a party to the chaos that I have witnessed in my daughter and son-in-law's struggle to repair their home. Anita

I will continue to note Pascagoula's progress. The pics below are of the pier on the beach. It will be lower than the previous pier and has concrete pilings.

Pascagoula man killed in Afghanistan

Pascagoula man killed in Afghanistan: "PASCAGOULA -- Family members confirmed Tuesday that one of two soldiers killed Monday in Afghanistan was Gautier native Maj. Michael Green.

Green, a member of the Army Special Forces command, was killed by a roadside bomb said his twin sister, Michelle Green LeBatard, of Gautier."

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: New York Volunteers Return To Coast For Eighth Time

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: New York Volunteers Return To Coast For Eighth Time: "There were plenty of hugs as Harrison County Supervisor Connie Rockco greeted volunteers, many of them students or faculty members from the State University of New York at Geneseo. But the 20 volunteers will soon be rolling up their sleeves and helping out again with Harrison County's rebuilding efforts."

I don't take change well. It's not just because we entered a new year, I feel the same in the spring and fall. I go into some kind of "I don't want to do anything mood". It will eventually pass and soon I get back to normal. While it lasts, it's a terrible mood. The holidays were great, no complaints there. Immediately after Christmas my daughter Anita decided that she would help me fix up a small bathroom in the house and, as of today, we are still working on it. When I moved here in May of 2005, I had intentions of sprucing it up but Katrina came ashore and my house looked better than most so I didn't do anything but have the exterior painted. Now there are so many new homes being built that mine needs work. I will be painting trim tomorrow in a hallway. Do any of you remember my backyard fence that the neighbor caught on fire? Well I think he has moved. Soon I will put a new fence up. The pics below are just around Pascagoula.

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Fire Quickly Put Out At Chevron's Pascagoula Refinery

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Fire Quickly Put Out At Chevron's Pascagoula Refinery: "There was a small fire at Chevron's largest U.S. refinery in Pascagoula on Thursday, but damage was not expected to disrupt production at the facility still recovering from a blaze in August, officials said."