There is always something going on in Cathedral Park in downtown Mobile. If it's not a farmer's market, it's a live music festival, a midwifery fair, or an afternoon of free yoga! Let me preface this story by saying that we did not actually end up participating in the yoga. My friend Coco and I heard that yoga was going on from 2-5pm on Sunday and decided to bike over and check it out. However, our departure was delayed by my adventures in the kitchen (learn more about that here!) so yoga had been going on for over an hour and a half by the time we got there. All the little groups of people seemed really peaceful and in the zone, and we felt too awkward to barge in on their stretching, so instead we found a park bench and sat observing.
Even though we weren't personally yoga-ing, we were still overcome with a sense of peace and contentment just sitting there. It was the perfect temperature out, there was just enough sun to be warm but not scorching, and we were sitting in the dappled shade of a few oak trees which would occasionally drop bullet-like acorns on our heads. When the wind would blow, a gentle, fragrant smell wafted towards us, and we realized it was coming from the tropical flower beds nearby. Beautiful! And, it was maybe fifteen minutes before we realized that what we had assumed was a recording of relaxing music flowing across the lawn was actually being performed live by a harpist! Enchanting! I felt like I was living in a real-life Stars Hollow!
I will try to post some pictures once I get them off my camera, because it really was the most perfect day and Cathedral Square is super pretty. All in all it was a lovely experience, and even though no yoga took place on our part, it was the perfect afternoon for a bike ride, and a welcome excuse to get out of the apartment and stretch our legs. Hurray for a temperate climate! :)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Jubilee!
The other day an email was forwarded to me with the subject line: Jubilee in Daphne taking place now 10:30 AM Friday, 9/22/11.
For those of you who are not from the the Mobile Bay area, this information is most likely met with confusion and mild curiosity. Allow me to translate. A "jubilee" occurs when there is a naturally-occurring but uncharacteristically low concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water, causing all manner of tasty sea creatures (crabs, flounder, stingrays, eels) to flee to shallower, more oxygen-rich waters. This of course means that you get stretches of beach where the shallow waters are full of very accessible seafood. Catching them is also made easier by the fact that oxygen deprivation causes the crabs and other sea critters to be very drowsy and behave very strangely.
This quote from Wikipedia really drives home how epic this event is:
If you haven't heard of this particular phenomenon before, don't feel bad. It is not very common. In fact, in the United States it is unique to Mobile Bay. And the only other place in the world it is known to happen is somewhere in Japan.
So just how big of a deal is the jubilee phenomenon? Big enough that it has its own festival! I may just have to wander over and check it out this weekend. You should also know that people who live on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay have "jubilee bells" on their porches--when they see a jubilee event happening, they sound the alarm! As the word spreads, people come running with ice chests to catch their fill of fresh seafood! And apparently the news of a jubilee is now being spread via email, in another meeting of technology and tradition :)
If you want more information, here is the Wikipedia link I drew from, as well as some articles about recent jubilee events. The majority of my information was anecdotal and provided to me by my wonderful coworkers, who are eager to introduce me to the way of life down here on the Gulf Coast :)
Wishing you smiles and sunshine!
-Bethany
For those of you who are not from the the Mobile Bay area, this information is most likely met with confusion and mild curiosity. Allow me to translate. A "jubilee" occurs when there is a naturally-occurring but uncharacteristically low concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water, causing all manner of tasty sea creatures (crabs, flounder, stingrays, eels) to flee to shallower, more oxygen-rich waters. This of course means that you get stretches of beach where the shallow waters are full of very accessible seafood. Catching them is also made easier by the fact that oxygen deprivation causes the crabs and other sea critters to be very drowsy and behave very strangely.
This quote from Wikipedia really drives home how epic this event is:
The large volume of crustacean and fish that a jubilee can produce is hard to overstate; author Archie Carr comments that "[a]t a good jubilee you can quickly fill a washtub with shrimp. You can gig a hundred flounders and fill the back of your pickup truck a foot deep in crabs."[4]
In addition to the sheer mass of the animals present, harvesting them is made considerably easier by the effect that the oxygen deprivation has on the animals. Their behavior has been described as "depressed and moribund",[2] or "unnatural";[4] crabs are observed "climbing tree stumps to escape the water" and flounder "slither up the banks."[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Bay_jubilee
If you haven't heard of this particular phenomenon before, don't feel bad. It is not very common. In fact, in the United States it is unique to Mobile Bay. And the only other place in the world it is known to happen is somewhere in Japan.
So just how big of a deal is the jubilee phenomenon? Big enough that it has its own festival! I may just have to wander over and check it out this weekend. You should also know that people who live on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay have "jubilee bells" on their porches--when they see a jubilee event happening, they sound the alarm! As the word spreads, people come running with ice chests to catch their fill of fresh seafood! And apparently the news of a jubilee is now being spread via email, in another meeting of technology and tradition :)
If you want more information, here is the Wikipedia link I drew from, as well as some articles about recent jubilee events. The majority of my information was anecdotal and provided to me by my wonderful coworkers, who are eager to introduce me to the way of life down here on the Gulf Coast :)
Wishing you smiles and sunshine!
-Bethany
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Hello!
Hi! So several people now have asked me if I am planning to keep a blog during my time in Mobile, and after a few weeks of contemplation, I impulsively decided to create one five minutes ago. So here it is!
I've been living in Alabama for about a month at this point. I am really enjoying it so far, although I miss my friends and family like you wouldn't believe. One thing that helps with my homesickness however is the fact that I really love my job and my coworkers. I am spending the year working as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for a small non-profit organization on the Gulf Coast, which has been an amazing learning experience in the 4 weeks that I have been here so far.
It's amazing to me that I have already been here for a month! It feels like it's gone so fast! To be fair, I did kind of get thrown into things right away. At a non-profit organization there is always work to be done, and especially working for an organization which has been so involved in responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, there are a lot of a meetings and there is a lot of activity surrounding getting information distributed and getting restoration projects funded. It is very exciting and is helping me discover what I want to do with myself as I continue growing up :)
Well, I don't have a ton to say right now. Like I said, this was an impulsive decision. So, I'll leave you with a few things I have learned about the South and Mobile so far.
1) Sweet tea is awesome.
2) Recycling bins are super rare.
3) Humidity makes your skin crawl, but also gives your hair amazing new volume and curl that you never thought possible!
4) There is something going on in Downtown Mobile almost every weekend.
5) The elevator in my apartment building nearly always smells like fried chicken. Or cigarette smoke.
Alright, peace out! Leave me comments! Ask me questions! I'll update this when I think of something clever or interesting to say, possibly with pictures!
-Bethany
I've been living in Alabama for about a month at this point. I am really enjoying it so far, although I miss my friends and family like you wouldn't believe. One thing that helps with my homesickness however is the fact that I really love my job and my coworkers. I am spending the year working as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for a small non-profit organization on the Gulf Coast, which has been an amazing learning experience in the 4 weeks that I have been here so far.
It's amazing to me that I have already been here for a month! It feels like it's gone so fast! To be fair, I did kind of get thrown into things right away. At a non-profit organization there is always work to be done, and especially working for an organization which has been so involved in responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, there are a lot of a meetings and there is a lot of activity surrounding getting information distributed and getting restoration projects funded. It is very exciting and is helping me discover what I want to do with myself as I continue growing up :)
Well, I don't have a ton to say right now. Like I said, this was an impulsive decision. So, I'll leave you with a few things I have learned about the South and Mobile so far.
1) Sweet tea is awesome.
2) Recycling bins are super rare.
3) Humidity makes your skin crawl, but also gives your hair amazing new volume and curl that you never thought possible!
4) There is something going on in Downtown Mobile almost every weekend.
5) The elevator in my apartment building nearly always smells like fried chicken. Or cigarette smoke.
Alright, peace out! Leave me comments! Ask me questions! I'll update this when I think of something clever or interesting to say, possibly with pictures!
-Bethany
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)