Rugged Country

I would like for you to meet a friend of the family. It is a '74 model 12'x60' mobile home which was purchased and placed on family property located in south Mississippi in late '80s. With the addition of a supplemental gas space heater and wooden deck it served as our hunting camp until March '97. Many family get togethers, holiday meals, and every single weekend and winter days away from work during the MS whitetail deer season were held here. Memories were made and will remain for a lifetime. My father still tells the story of how all of the water line traps were found frozen solid inside the camp one Friday evening when he arrived even though the lines had been drained the week before. He used an electric hair dryer to thaw them out. Lightning hit the kid's treehouse one very stormy night and the concussion knocked all the deer antler mounts and memorablia on the shelves on the floor. The girls awoke to no power and screamed thinking they were walking through skeleton bones. That's another story for another day! This old camp stood her ground until the family outgrew the space and a larger rendezvous was placed up the road. Simmon's Park was its next destination adjacent to Mary Walker Marina located in Gautier, Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico. Salt water fishing became its mission and served well for much needed hot showers and cool air conditioning following long days of fishing around offshore oil rigs south of Gulf Islands National Seashore's barrier islands. Fish fries, crawfish boils, and listening to the summer rains on the tin roof became the tradition for eleven years. They don't make mobile homes like they did back in the '70s. The proof is in the following. I researched the National Hurricane Center's archives this a.m. to determine just how many tropical storms and hurricanes "the fishcamp" endured. There were many days following a major hurricane that I became resolved with the fact that the camp probably did not make it and a month would pass before Emergency Mgt would allow residents back in the area to survey the damage. Amazingly, the camp survived five named hurricanes and five tropical storms until I decided to bring it home following Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005. Again, I expected to find nothing more than the frame. Days after Katrina passed the NOAA website published aerial photos of Mary Walker Marina and to my astonishment I saw the camp surrounded by a storm tide heavy debris line. The knoll of ground was just high enough. The hurricane tide pushed water to historical heights mid-way up on the frame just literal inches below the subflooring. This old camp was supporting a large oak tree resting on the edge of her tin roof. Others were laying on the ground as if One had guided the pathway of the fall just missing a devastating blow. It was at this moment I decided to move our "old faithful" to the farm. The photo above shows her final destination. In the back corner of our property she rests now. Thanks to my brother and nephews for making the drive and building a nice large deck within (1) day. Our son's birthday parties, Easter egg hunts, and of course hunting the Alabama rut in late January keeps the family together in "Narraburra", a name earned through years of service. The ancient culture of the Aborigenes in Australia use this name to describe their "Rugged Country".