🐉 Nessie Visits Dauphin Island  By Cecelia “CeCe” Redmond The day Scotland’s most famous legend fancied a little Gulf Coast sun. Storyteller’s Prelude:Every beach walk carries its surprises — sometimes it’s just a perfect shell, sometimes it’s something that stirs imagination and laughter in equal measure. This is the day Scotland’s most famous legend decided Alabama’s coastline was worth a visit. _________________ A stroll along the beach, kicking at sand and pocketing shells, came to a sudden stop — shock and disbelief froze me mid-step. There she was.Bobbing and dipping along the shoreline like she’d wandered

Gold That Falls From Trees: How Pecans Paid for Christmas By Cecelia “CeCe” Redmond September 2025 My foot rolled on the thick green skin of money and memories. Last week, in the heart of Alabama—Red Level. I don’t think there’s even a red light in Red Level, but there are pecan orchards. Pecan trees on every road, their limbs burdened with gold: not just the golden meat inside each shell, but the payment per pound. Here in L.A. (Lower Alabama), we call them pah-cahns, not pee-cans. September is too early. October—the great raining-down of pecans begins.

Pecans Gold for Christmas Last week I was in the heart of Alabama, down at my Momma-Moody’s in Red Level. I don’t think they even have a red light in Red Level — but they’ve got pecan orchards. Pecan trees on every road, limbs heavy, nuts already starting to fall. Here in L.A. — Lower Alabama — we call them pah-cahns, not pee-cans. Front of my grandmother’s house in Lower Alabama Walking from Momma-Moody’s to Me-Maw’s house, I felt a long-forgotten lump roll beneath my foot — a thick green-husked pecan. It’s still a little early

Celtic Gulf Coast History: From Pensacola to New Orleans By Cecelia “CeCe” Redmond When most people think of the Gulf Coast, they picture Mardi Gras in New Orleans, seafood along Mobile Bay, or Florida’s white-sand beaches. But hidden within this landscape is another story — one written in Gaelic prayers, Irish surnames, Scottish songs, and the sweat of immigrants who carved out lives along these waters. From Pensacola to Mobile to New Orleans, Celtic people — Irish, Scottish, Scots-Irish, and Welsh — left their imprint. They came as soldiers, settlers, clergy, teachers, and shipbuilders. They built