These tales tell of the experience the author and his wife have led living in a small Mississippi town on the Gulf of Mexico in the pleasant company of local friends, a series of large dogs, a black cat and all the wonders that come with living in a southern coastal town.They tell of the people that live in the town as well as the creatures that inhabit the surf, the sand and the sky of the beach. The stories are all true and the reader will identify with what is being said from their own experience.Throughout the stories These are tales of a time that no longer exist. They tell of an American idyll, of an era very recent that was abruptly ended.Stella and I designed and built much of the large, comfortable house, orienting it to stand among several hundreds of years old live oaks. Each year since it was built in 1976, she and I worked in the summer heat with a friend, expanding the original structure, adding more spaces, more adornments, until it became a house that was uniquely ours. We loved the view we had and built broad galleries on its south and west sides to sit on and finally a gazebo to enjoy the view. It was an exceptional view to enjoy. About 35 yards from the south gallery lies a two lane county road and across from this a sandy beach and the tea brown broad waters of the Mississippi Sound. The Sound is a long, somewhat narrow, biologically rich estuary, seldom deeper than 20 feet, that stretches along the entire southern Mississippi Coast. It’s narrow along its east - west length, averaging about fifteen miles in width and, by means of a long series of Barrier Islands, separates the Mississippi Coast from the clear blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a true estuary, forming a richly diverse, very active mixing zone for the fresh waters that pour out of the coastal rivers and lakes and the more salty waters of the Gulf. This variable mixing gives the waters of the Sound its brownish color and is the source of the region’s rich bounty of shrimp, of flounder, of redfish, and oysters. Read Less