Since the antebellum home, Hope Farm, burned, a lot has happened. The house was previously owned by my great aunt Katherine Miller and my great uncle Balfour, who bought it in the 1920s and restored it. It was built in 1775 for the Spanish governor, Carlos de Grand Pre.
A dear, sweet friend, Ethel Banta, bought the house after Balfour and Katherine had died, and kept it in its original condition, as requested in Balfour's will. She opened the house to tourists during Spring and Fall pilgrimage, and was a delightful raconteur. Ethel died in the fire, so it was doubly heartbreaking.
A couple from Arkansas has bought what’s left of it and are going to bring it back to life. I’ve been going over and working in the yard for them. It doesn’t look like it’s been tended in at least a couple of years, so it’s daunting.
I was there a few days ago, doing some yardwork. Laine and Kevin Berry, the new owners, stopped by for a little while to check on some things, then they left. I was happily pulling out poison ivy and laurel from one of the beds in back.
Turns out while I was working, there was a traffic jam on Homochitto Street because an alligator had made its way to the entrance of Hope Farm and the police were trying to catch it with one of those long poles with a loop on the end like they use to catch dogs.
I was blissfully unaware that anything was afoot. Fortunately, by the time I left, they'd caught it and traffic was able to resume. It's just so weird feeling that all this hullabaloo went on and I never heard a sound.
It was all clear when I finally decided I was so tired I had to stop. Went home and took a shower with Palmolive dish soap in case I'd inadvertently touched some of the poison ivy. In fact, I'm sure I did come in contact several times on my wrist. It's the oils on the leaves that cause the rash. But Palmolive is made for getting rid of oil and grease, so into the shower I go. No rash today. I've discovered the secret to avoiding poison ivy. Now I'll have to work on how to keep alligators out of the driveway. LOL!
