It is one of those rainy days that makes me happy I no longer have to crawl under houses. I did that, crawled in the dirt and mud, for twenty-nine years. Precipitation takes on a whole new flavor when you are not forced to try to work outdoors in it. Instead of a problem, it becomes a welcome change up, making the sunny days, moderate temperature, and blue skies more enjoyable, more memorable, special.
There is also that warm fuzzy feeling one gets as the rain taps on the roof and the warm covers are plastered over with cats. Oh to be so lucky. It happens for me every now and then. Ever so often, I lounge late and the cats, Luvie, CC, and Baby Kitty, hang out with me enjoying the community of affection we share. Cats are like that. The mild movement their licking causes only adds to the relaxing mood. The purring, the most relaxing sound in the world, piles on another layer of comfort. And perchance a cat is leaning on a leg while doing that uniquely cat noise, and the vibrations enter the body-- there are no words. What joy, what simple pleasure, what gentle gifts from God.
Besides relaxing and hanging out with cats, this kind of weather is good for reading. Currently, I am working through a fascinating book titled Mississippi Mud by Edward Humes. While I was pecking at this, I forgot Humes' name so I did a quick Google search. Boy was I surprised. Seems like Mississippi Mud is a pretty popular title. There is a song by that name written in 1927 by Harry Barris and recorded by Bing Cosby. Who knew? Not only that, but there is a beer by that name produced in a brewery in-- are you ready for this?-- Utica, New York. Utica, New York?!?!?! My response precisely. Besides all that, Mississippi Mud is a color of house paint, a brand of pottery, and of course everyone has heard of the desserts. There is Mississippi Mud cake, Mississippi Mud pies, and Mississippi Mud cookies. Now I am thinking about renaming my blog, The Mississippi Mud Swimmer. What do you think? Back to Mississippi Mud the book.
David Hume's tome is about the Dixie Mafia and the Sherry murders that took place in Biloxi in 1987. For anyone who is not from around here, Biloxi is pronounced bi (as in bit) luhks (the "o" like in duh) ee (as in knee). Place names are notorious for having idiomatic pronunciations. Get it right, please. It is disrespectful not to. You might think we are dumb hicks for pronouncing it that way, but we think y'all are dumb Yankees for not doing so. I remember when this happened, and the shock I felt knowing a sitting judge and his wife, a mayoral candidate, had been assassinated in their home gangland style, still echoes in my inner man. It was years, four to be exact, before anyone was charged in the slayings, and no one was ever charged with murder. I am only 320 pages into 400 of the page turner, but it looks like the gunman was never positively identified. Several people were charged and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder but not murder itself. Investigators believe John Ransom, a known Dixie Mafia hitman, was the trigger man, but they didn't have the case to convict him or anyone for murder.
Update: I finished the book last night. Four years after the original trial, another round of indictments came down on the same players (minus John Ransom) and a couple of others (including the former mayor of Biloxi, Tom Halat). Still, the second round of charges all involved conspiracy to commit murder and some others. Halat went down and it came out that the actual trigger man was a guy out of Texas, Thomas Holcomb. The long case's resolution came after the FBI was finally able to flip the Gulf Coast Godfather, Mike Gillich, who was in prison, essentially for life, and was caught trying to bribe a witness in an additional case he incurred while incarcerated.
The whole story is stunning and shocking and is a cautionary tale about hanging out with the wrong folks. Remember your parents warning you about that? Vincent Sherry, a lawyer and judge, was a clean man according to the outlaws, investigators, and his friends, family, and neighbors. But he had an attraction to the seamier side of the Gulf coast. He befriended and represented as a defense attorney, criminals of several stripes including Dixia Mafia members. Eventually, it cost him his life. And his wife, Margaret, was a crusader running for mayor and vowing to clean up the Coast. She may have even been the primary target of the hit. Update: Vince was the initial target, but Halat wanted Margaret killed also to protect business interest on the Coast and to clear the way for his own run for mayor. And all the gangsters thought she knew everything her husband did so they both had to go.
Why do I find this this kind or evil so interesting? Sometimes that worries me, makes me think I am a criminal at heart, just one who had a good upbringing and an aversion to jail time. Am I just like Vincent Sherry, wanting a peek behind the curtain to see how the other side lives? Yeah, I think that's correct. But I must not be the only one who finds criminal cases fascination because there are a lot of crime shows on television. I know because I watch them all.
David Hume's tome is about the Dixie Mafia and the Sherry murders that took place in Biloxi in 1987. For anyone who is not from around here, Biloxi is pronounced bi (as in bit) luhks (the "o" like in duh) ee (as in knee). Place names are notorious for having idiomatic pronunciations. Get it right, please. It is disrespectful not to. You might think we are dumb hicks for pronouncing it that way, but we think y'all are dumb Yankees for not doing so. I remember when this happened, and the shock I felt knowing a sitting judge and his wife, a mayoral candidate, had been assassinated in their home gangland style, still echoes in my inner man. It was years, four to be exact, before anyone was charged in the slayings, and no one was ever charged with murder. I am only 320 pages into 400 of the page turner, but it looks like the gunman was never positively identified. Several people were charged and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder but not murder itself. Investigators believe John Ransom, a known Dixie Mafia hitman, was the trigger man, but they didn't have the case to convict him or anyone for murder.
Update: I finished the book last night. Four years after the original trial, another round of indictments came down on the same players (minus John Ransom) and a couple of others (including the former mayor of Biloxi, Tom Halat). Still, the second round of charges all involved conspiracy to commit murder and some others. Halat went down and it came out that the actual trigger man was a guy out of Texas, Thomas Holcomb. The long case's resolution came after the FBI was finally able to flip the Gulf Coast Godfather, Mike Gillich, who was in prison, essentially for life, and was caught trying to bribe a witness in an additional case he incurred while incarcerated.
The whole story is stunning and shocking and is a cautionary tale about hanging out with the wrong folks. Remember your parents warning you about that? Vincent Sherry, a lawyer and judge, was a clean man according to the outlaws, investigators, and his friends, family, and neighbors. But he had an attraction to the seamier side of the Gulf coast. He befriended and represented as a defense attorney, criminals of several stripes including Dixia Mafia members. Eventually, it cost him his life. And his wife, Margaret, was a crusader running for mayor and vowing to clean up the Coast. She may have even been the primary target of the hit. Update: Vince was the initial target, but Halat wanted Margaret killed also to protect business interest on the Coast and to clear the way for his own run for mayor. And all the gangsters thought she knew everything her husband did so they both had to go.
Why do I find this this kind or evil so interesting? Sometimes that worries me, makes me think I am a criminal at heart, just one who had a good upbringing and an aversion to jail time. Am I just like Vincent Sherry, wanting a peek behind the curtain to see how the other side lives? Yeah, I think that's correct. But I must not be the only one who finds criminal cases fascination because there are a lot of crime shows on television. I know because I watch them all.
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