msmoon | 2005-Jun-29, Wednesday

Yo. Earlier in the week, some tourists had asked my mom and grandmere where “Grand Izzle” was. They asked to see the place on the map and it turned out to be Grand Isle, just pronounced wrongly. And somehow that sparked a great expediton to Grand Isle, which we undertook today.

We woke up at 9 a.m. and went to see Grandmere. We all planed to go to Grand Isle, and oddly enough it made me feel like Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves when he says he wants to be stationed out on the fronter so that he can see it before it’s gone. That’s kind of the way it is with Grand Isle. There’s so much erosion going on now that it seems like everything’s simply washing away. All it would take is one decent hurricane, and there wouldn’t really be a Grand Ilse left. ...when I look out on the vast expanse of grass and water and I see egrets by the dozens slowly and gracefully striding through the tall grass, I can’t help but feel a sense of sadness...I suppose it’s silly to say that I sympathize with the bird (it’s one of my favorites). It’s as if I see them out there, earning their meals in what has been their natural habitat for years, and I think of how the egret would miss it when it’s gone.

Other things that were actually good about Grand Isle…The land, though not particularly beautiful in the natural sense, does hold a strange beauty all its own. Perhaps it’s the solitude and relaxed pace of the place. There are few places there for entertainment (other than bars which I never go to), and there are only small, family-owned businesses (bate&tackle shops, cafes, restaurants, etc). It’s so isolated; it’s the perfect place to get away from everything that causes stress. The problem is that when you’re that isolated, it’s hard to get back to everything. The houses are all on stilts, one-story houses becoming higher than any two-story house I’ve seen. This also provides people with garages and cauports. Everyone names their house or ‘camp’ as it’s called, which I find is very cute and creative.

Aside from the car-sickness and being lulled into a stupor by sinus medication, the trip was very nice. It gave us time to do something even though we were doing absolutely nothing. And any time we can spend with Grandmere is a good time indeed. But that was the entirety of my day. I have tons of pics of meaningless stuff on Grand Isle and the way back, and that pleases me. But now, I’m off to plop into my bed and re-read the ending of ‘The Dragon Knight’ in case I missed anything. Goodnight.