Sandspurs…


Hurricanes will come and go, leaving a swath of devastation. And rebuilding will continue to happen after each one. But Hurricane Katrina’s strength and location utterly devastated the Mississippi and eastern Louisiana coast, and floodwaters did the same to New Orleans proper.

We’ve now spent weeks experiencing news stories about Katrina’s aftermath (and Rita’s), and CNN and Anderson Cooper are to be commended for keeping a lot of attention on this situation. The other cable news channels seem to have moved on to Iraq, to the White House leak, to other storms. All important stories, but the belly of our country needs to be rebuilt. And there are more devastating storms to come, if not this season then in a future one.

And so, along with all the other thinking and reacting we must do in this modern age, we need to think wisely about how to repair the central Gulf coast. We must be rational and logical this time.

As much as I hate to say it, no one can go home again. We should not rebuild the destroyed areas in the way they stood before.

Whenever I drove along the Mississippi coast, I always felt the breath of Katrina. Houses and other buildings built right down on the sandy beaches. Fragile Victorian towns facing seaward, exposed to surge and wind. What amazed me is that a Katrina had not happened yet. Surviving or rebuilding from countless other storms had engendered a false picture: that those towns and structures were designed to survive – or rebuild from – whatever nature brought to them. Many had tremendous confidence in this pseudo-reality.

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The one good thing anyone can say about total devastation is that it gives us a chance to do it right next time. History and sentimentality be damned. If we are in a time of global warming, or just entering a 20-30 year cycle of stronger storms, we are not ready for it or them. What we place back on the coast, and all over Florida, should be designed to meet the rigors of these storms.

Why cannot a physicist/engineer/architect/whoever design something like this: a domestic “pod” that hooks up to sewer and electrics much as RV’s do? Livable round balls with a floor, making them a geodesic dome that can be disconnected from utilities, should a hurricane take aim.

My idea is that if they get blown off their foundations, they’re sealed and designed to float or blow around without being destroyed. And then they are collected at the end of the storm and trucked or towed back to their original foundations. And life starts up again. No one would be so stupid as to try to ride out a strong storm in a geodesic ball (would they?). The humans and pets and valuables could retreat to higher ground. But at the end of the day, the “neighborhood” simply gets reassembled. The occasional destroyed pod would be easily replaced.

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I’m starting to hear that there are designers inventing rapid-replacement temporary shelters, but are having difficulty getting them to market. The problem with these is that they are vulnerable to the next storm. I think we need to lift our sights above that line and invent something new that can go back into place when the storm has passed. Whole new industries can spring into being: those to build the pods and furnish them; those to install the pods; those to search for and return the pods after the storm.

A magazine, Pod Beautiful, could be marketed. Pod mini-malls could be established, with concrete walkways among the pods, joining them into a marketplace. Inventors could focus their attention on pod stowage, with sealable closets within the pod, so merchandise or personal affects could also ride out a storm. Locksmiths could invent locks for homeowners and shopkeepers to enter and which would keep others out.

One can go on and on in this fantasy. But this would be far more intelligent that rebuilding, say, Bay St. Louis or Waveland to their former glory. This fantasy would be a more responsible response to the harsh new reality we find ourselves in. And be a far cry also from the nasty trailer parks that are now likely to fill Florida and the Gulf coast, offering neither safety nor aesthetics. The impermanence of the pods would allow us to live lightly on delicate land, to trade up to somewhat bigger ones for bigger families, and to become more egalitarian and less house-proud. And our history would show our resilience and ingenuity, rather than our rigid return to tradition.
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Bullets from my life…

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the opportunity to write in this blog. This is when the demands of my jewelry art business are at their most intense. I’ve also not been well in the last week, but am now getting better. But, in brief, this is what I’ve noticed about the world:

The Merritt Island/Cocoa Beach area seems to suffer from its own version of economic depression. My show down there did not go particularly well. Even those who fit my usual “customer profile” did not feel motivated to buy much. It was a first-year show and the weather was blustery and challenging. My tent was an ordeal. And I ended the show with a sinus-y cold, from which I’ve been trying to recover after a week of sleep and that surreal feeling that comes with such ailments.

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I continue to miss my dear friend, Melanie. Although we certainly did not see each other all the time, there’s also a different quality to our phone relationship. I think that it’s because she’s settling into an area of Vermont that’s somewhat less frantic and high-tech than Florida, and I’m sensitive to the fact that she’s gone there (at least partly) to escape Florida’s pressure and pace. But our conversations have been good, and they’ve nourished my soul.

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I’ve been doing art shows for many years. Because I live in north Florida, I’ve used the template of a circle drawn with Tallahassee at its center. And I tried to put a limit of six hours of drive time on my art “region.” Because I’m in an exclusive arrangement with a gallery in Seaside, Florida, I’ve respected that agreement – which makes everywhere from Panama City to Pensacola off limits to me (defining the entire Emerald Coast area). Now, with Hurricane Katrina blasting apart the geographical and economical region to my west – as well as damage from Florida’s four hurricanes last year – I find myself needing to redefine my business region.

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I grew up in the Tampa Bay area, which we thought of as “cosmopolitan.” This means that it hosts not only the old Florida Southern/cracker population, but also a large Cuban/Spanish/Italian population, an African-American population, and a large population of Northerners who have been transplanted to that area. Because there is also affluence there and because of a combination of factors – including the natural beauty of an area entwined with salt and fresh waterways and bays --- it casts the illusion of uber sophistication. It prides itself on it, in fact. And it might embody that, in fact. But it also masks the reality that while it’s a world unto itself, operating by its own logic, it’s often a status-symbol culture, a who-you-know culture.

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And my experience there confused me into thinking that the state of Florida was more sophisticated than its Deep South neighbors to the north (Georgia and Alabama, in particular). After living in denial for all of the years I’ve made and sold art jewelry, I’ve finally begun to understand that the reverse is actually true. At least when it comes to consuming edgy art jewelry! I think that this might be due to the “beach mentality” that cloaks our state. With everyone wearing flip-flops, halter tops and T-shirts, who’s interested in wearing real jewelry?

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My friend, Deborah, and I have had several recent discussions re: how we’ve always wanted to live on the coast. But the mega hurricanes of these past two seasons have now convinced us of the folly of doing this. I don’t want to be anywhere near open saltwater, at least not in a residential way. And, not only is it a matter of dangerous storms, but also ongoing environmental pollution. Oil spills, the polluted water drained from New Orleans making its way into the Gulf, and Florida’s unadmitted chronic issues with Red Tide. For years now, Red Tide has plagued the Gulf near St. Petersburg’s beaches, ruining many vacations. There’s a rumor that in the southern portion of Tampa Bay, there’s been a major release of toxins into the water, running out through the mouth of the bay into the Gulf. Red Tide causes respiratory reactions in those on the shore, as well as death to fishes and birds making contact with the water. Now, Red Tide has made its way to the northern Gulf and is haunting the Emerald Coast – a very rare event in times past.

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And, what gives with the county to our south: Taylor County? I guess they see taking environmental risks with their land and health as a way to upgrade their economy… Already, the Fenholloway River reeks of death and destruction from historic industry (cellulose). They’ve courted a new bombing range on their beautiful coastline. And now they’ve committed land to the construction of a new and controversial coal-fired electrical generator – one which will be completed only two years before its capacity proves to be obsolete. Like much construction, most of the money will be made by developer up front, leaving the region to foot the bill. And this is being rammed down our throats by aggressive developers and politicians who do not respect our right to not increase the level of childhood asthma in our region…

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The Episcopal Priest, Father Dudley, of Tallahassee’s St. John’s Episcopal Church appears to have gone off the deep end with homophobia. The church is undergoing a schism, and he’s leaving to form a new church that will, undoubtedly, be run by his version of the bible. Whatever happened to the kind, lovely Episcopal Church that used to say: “Come to the table. Come with your questions, but come?” Inclusiveness is the way to peace and love and doing the right thing. Nothing else has ever worked.

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It was nice tonight to listen to “Thistle and Shamrock” on NPR. Sometimes the frantic fiddling gets to me, but tonight the moderator led a show that focused on the Dark Ages and ancient times, and the music was lovely. My Celtic past was not taught to me in girlhood. I had to discover it for myself. I like spending time in that world, and music is the best path in…

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I’m off to another art show up in north Georgia. Glen and I are thinking in the direction of the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. Climbing that great gorge to that high plateau is fascinating. We’ll never completely pull up stakes in Tallahassee, but we want to add to our experience. I spent time with a friend in an art show yesterday – another jewelry designer – and she’s also thinking of Tennessee and New England as additions to her life. She and I will talk soon…

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And, David K. from New Orleans just left a phone message saying he and Vera are in their home in New Orleans for the first time, for a few days, without electricity. Just checking things out. No signs of flooding in their home. But what a mess… We’re all still waiting to see what becomes of New Orleans and Mississippi. Still all a surreal dream.

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