Minutes to Memories

Ocean Springs is a festival town, and the Peter Anderson Festival is the granddaddy of them all. It has been selected as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events, an event in which nearly three hundred artists from around the country set up shop and display (and sell) their works of beauty to the thousands and thousands of people who travel from everywhere for this annual event.

This year’s festival is the 28th time around, and from the people in the know that I’ve spoken to – in terms of attendance – this may be the biggest one ever. From what I was told, yesterday’s attendance was unbelievable.

Thankfully, we decided to wait until today to attend. My family brought a change of clothes to worship this morning, and after class, we changed and walked across Highway 90 to enjoy the festivities. Several of our church family members decided to do the same thing, and it was fun to bump into them periodically as we wandered around the blocked-off downtown area.

We stopped for a barbecue sandwich at Mohler’s gas station and enjoyed the music of a live jazz band as we ate. We sat in the shade and felt the cool breeze while watching people pass by enjoying the bright sun and seventy degree temperatures of Ocean Springs in November.

I especially enjoyed running into my friend, Michael Dickinson, whose wife, Lisa, is a local artist. This was really the first time I’ve seen her work up close, and she is an amazing talent. As we spoke with Lisa, she talked about the hundreds of different art forms she could explore, and how she would have to live several lives to be able to truly investigate every one. Her job as an artist could never become old or monotonous.

Which makes me think of God, of course.

The mission statement of the “Peter Anderson Memorial Arts, Crafts, and Food Festival” (which we all call the Peter Anderson Festival for short) is “to create access to a broad array of diverse art forms and encourage the expanding depth and breadth of cultural life in Ocean Springs and the Gulf Coast.”

I think the festival accomplishes its mission quite well, but for me it simply provided a great afternoon with my family, my friends, and my community, along with a barbecue sandwich, some jazz music, and a little reflection on what it must feel like to be creative like God.

Not a bad afternoon at all.