Day 3: NOLA to Fairhope

Day 3 Quote:

"To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk being called sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naive.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair,
and to try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greastest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, and becomes nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live. Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave, he’s forfeited his freedom.
Only the person who risks is truly free."

Woke up early today to get to Fairhope by lunchtime. We drove through swampland, bayous, estuaries, and bays--a part of America I'd never seen. We arrived in Fairhope in less than three hours and drove to the lunch spot where we were to meet Nan.

Nan is the mother of one of my very close friends. We sort of adopted her after our friends moved away. She used to live nearby in Texas, but recently relocated back to her family's home of Fairhope. Nan is very proud of this community and, after lunch, she took us to the local Fairhope Museum.

A shout out to Fairhope's first female mayor.

Craig Sheldon, eccentric builder and sculptor

Learning about indigenous home building practices.

Though Fairhope's populist history was interesting, I was incredibly stressed trying to manage a work call with my university IRB. I didn't have wifi nor a place to take the call, but was trying to spare a colleague from having to be on the call, and was also wanting to get this checked off my list. The stakes were high, but there I was sitting in the hot sun with a poor connection, trying to answer questions justifying this research study, while my children waited on me impatiently in the museum.

At first I was so irritated, but I realized several things: 1) the build-up is always worse than the actual thing itself. I spent so much time worrying, only to have it be a fairly smooth call. 2) Do the bulk of the work ahead of time, so people have what they need in front of them. 3) Stay connected to my "why." When I felt tempted to resent the hell out of trying to manage a work call while on vacation, I realized that I truly am motivated by trying to help foster youth receive adventure therapy to help them cope with trauma and mental illness. And, so I took the call on my cell in the middle of Alabama in July, and ultimately gained conditional approval for this important research study.

After the museum, we visited with Nan at her cottage on the bay, and enjoyed catching up about our lives.

We walked down to Mobile Bay with her and she showed us several houses and piers connected to her family. She showed us places her children used to play. You could sense how nostalgic she was, and also how she felt like she had finally come home.

We were disappointed not to be able to swim in the bay, but Nan said that bacteria levels were very high, and that, in general, the Gulf of Mexico is sort of a dumping ground for sewage and other waste water. Known for its dead zones, bacteria and waste now threaten the economic and recreational value of the land. 

The peer where Nan's daughter, my good friend Brenna, ran and played as a child.

My whole world.

Mobile Bay

We went to our hotel after our time at the bay, and swam in the tiny hotel pool for a bit. It's so hot here, though, that it was totally a case of "something is better than nothing."

Fun time in the pool before dinner!

Ended our day with cocktails together at the hotel before dinner, followed by fresh fish and shrimp at Fish River Grille.  Needless to say, many escapades were had, which we all laughed about it, gave each other hugs and said goodnight. Only one night in Fairhope to reconnect briefly...