The 'Katrina'  Violin

The 'Katrina' Violin, front and back views.

The violin looked great on Ebay. We  bid on it, and we won. It was in Ocean Springs, so we asked if we could meet and just pay for it  in person, since we are just right over the Bay.  Of course,  so here we  went.   It was Friday, August 27. It was nearing dark as we left, the sun still a little high but would set in an hour or so. The  drive from where we are in Gulfport to Ocean Springs on the hasty side is 45 minutes.  Our daughter was spending the night at  Grandma's, we were having a Friday night to ourselves.    We met and exchanged money for violin.(It almost seemed clandestine!) The violin was a bit more beat up than in the photos, as I have learned somehow a lot of violins tend to look so much better in picture form  in auctions!  At first, we wern't even sure if it was the same violin.

Despite initially being a little disappointed in the  violin,  it is actually a nice one, with a very sweet tone and inlaid  purfling. It is a copy of a Stradivarius, made in Germany, and states clearly that it is a copy. One of my more treasured violins. :)

We stopped  somewhere and got something to eat,  and started back towards the bridge. The Ocean Springs Bridge was always so nice in the summer at night, because it was balmy and the lights from nearby businesses and boats in the water always reminded me of  a night scene with water by Van Gogh. The water was always really dark, but had these little magical highlights of orange, yellow and white.    If the moon was out, especially  a full one, it was all the more magical. Sometimes you could look over from the bridge you were driving on and see the old Ocean Springs/ Biloxi bridge (that was cut literally in two by Hurricane Camille in 1969.) lined with people fishing. Some people would use lights shone into the water as this seems to attract fish and shrimp.     Often during the summer there would be firework displays, and these were always a treat when driving over the bridge as you could drive and watch them at the same time because you were driving right towards them.    Retrieving the violin was the last  trip for us across the bridge. Katrina destroyed both bridges to bits a day and a half later , Aug 29, 2005.

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