Fairhope, continued

We got up and moving by 8 in the morning, which is a late start by Gail's usual schedule. She didn't have much to do, though, so we took it easy. I met one of her clients, and we talked for a little and saw some of her paintings. Afterwards, we went to the East Shore Cafe, which Mom and I always go to when we're visiting Gail. I had a crab meat omelet--mmm.

After breakfast, Gail drove me around town for some sightseeing. I wanted to see as much as possible both for my enjoyment and so I could share with my students. Our first stop was the Fairhope pier. There's a little park on the beach with a duck pond, and we saw a mother and her daughters giving bread to about twenty mallards, Muscovy ducks, and geese. It reminded me of going to Twin Hills, the park in Crestview, with Mom and Heather to feed the ducks when we were little.

We walked out on the pier, and Gail told me stories about Mobile Bay. At low tide, the water around the pier is shallow enough for wading out to the end of the pier. Most of the local seafood restaurants serve fish caught from the bay. Sure enough, we saw a group of guys casting a net off the pier, and another man walking along with a fishing pole.

The original 1968 pier was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, and while they were trying to rebuild it, Katrina came along and messed things up. You can learn a lot from informational plaques.

On our way back from the pier, Gail showed me some of Fairhope's beautiful houses and downtown architecture. Just as it was when I first got back to Springfield, I was shocked at how big everything was. I felt like a tourist in my own country.

We went back to Gail's, and chilled out for a little. I decided to head out while Gail took a nap. Before I left, though, I walked around the yard a little. She's had the same property for as long as I can remember, and though the landscape has changed almost entirely, I can still recall snippets of how it used to be. Walking around is good for that; I'll look up at the trees from a certain part of the yard and suddenly I'll see the old barn with the chickens and the bathtub for the horses. I think I remember being kicked by a horse, but if it actually happened, I got lucky--it didn't leave a scar or anything. I do remember being told over and over to never stand behind a horse. I also remember riding Tiny, the pony Gail and Bill gave me for Christmas.

As I mentioned, Gail has always loved animals. Behind where the old barn used to be, there's a little grove of scrub pines. Set among the pines is a small pet cemetery. Almost all of Gail's pets are buried there, but the rest of the family has used it, too. Sherry and Reed's Doberman, Chewbacca (who was a puppy of Leia, Gail's dog), is there. So is Fritz, the first dog I ever knew. He was a salt-and-pepper miniature schnauzer, and Mom and Dad had had him a couple of years before I came along. I remember standing there under the scrub pines twenty years ago, crying my eyes out as he was buried.

Anyway, I strolled around the yard for a while. It wasn't nearly as depressing as that last paragraph might suggest. The plan was to get everybody together at my aunt Sherry and uncle Reed's house for dinner that night. I decided to scoot over there early to spend some time with them.