Vacationing with the family on the beach in Destin

DESTIN, Fla. – As the Cassreino family continues its week-long vacation in this resort town, I finally batteries to power my digital camera.

With as tropical storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico, waves and dangerous undertow currents have increased along the beach. We were warned not to venture deeper than our knees.

So, click below to enjoy as photo slide show from this morning on the beach.

Col. Rebel played key role in 1998 Cassreino proposal

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

MADISON (Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010) – When the Univerisity of Mississippi announced this week that its new mascot will be a black bear, my thoughts raced back some 12 years to a fateful day in Oxford that forever changed my life.

Col. Rebel, Ole Miss’ much maligned mascot, played a key role that day – as did the Ole Miss cheerleaders and a large contingent of friends. With their help, I staged an elaborate wedding proposal on Saturday, Sept. 5, 1998, for the woman who ultimately became my beautiful wife.

Pam and I were married on Saturday, May 15, 1999, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Madison. The wedding was unforgettable, as I’m sure most are. But our journey officially began eight months earlier on the Ole Miss campus.

Another day in Madison County

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

GLUCKSTADT, Miss. (Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010) -- The children are long asleep and I'm back in my office in our house updating our family blog for the first time in a long, long time.

My family and I have been on a whirlwind these past few months, wrapping up life in our rental home in Pearl River, La.; packing up our house in June for the move back to Gluckstadt; actually moving in July and then settling in.

We've been back here in our house since early July -- and it's still kind of difficult to believe it. In one sense, it's like we never left; in another, I still feel sad that things didn't work out in Southeast Louisiana.

Unmistakable odor of oil fills the Mississippi Gulf Coast air

By Terry R. Cassreino

GULFPORT (Sunday, May 23, 2010) – A steady, late afternoon breeze from the south cooled the beach across from the Courtyard Inn near downtown – and with it came the unmistakable, strong odor of oil.

This was not the odor of gasoline or a lawn mower.

This was no doubt oil, part of the thousands of barrels of crude that have continued to spew for more than a month from a leak at an underwater well some 5,000 feet beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana Coast.

But save for the strong stench of oil, you wouldn’t have known the biggest ecological disaster was taking place miles south of here. It was business as usual along the Mississippi Coast on Saturday as visitors and residents relaxed on the beach unfazed by the oil spill.

Yazoo City Tornado: Photos from the Storm

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

YAZOO CITY (Sunday, April 25, 2010) -- I just filed my story for The New York Times, uploaded my personal photos and am ready to share the pictures with my blog and readers. I'll file written text and few more photos later.

But for now, the following slide show must do.

I will say this: The damage was devastating throughout Yazoo City. Many people lost everything they had, including their homes. Many homes will have to be bulldozed. Many victims are staying with family and friends.

The destruction reminded me of Katrina's wind damage -- certainly not the tidal surge. And, of course, the response by the state, the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross appearaed to be impressive.

Here are the photos: