By Christian Coffman

NATCHEZ — Michael Murphy and his wife, Patricia, live a comfortable life as retirees.

When The Dart landed on South Pearl Street last Tuesday, Michael was tending to his lawn outside the couple’s large house.

Murphy estimates his time as a retired man at nearly 20 years.

“You get to wake up every morning and drink your coffee for as long as you want,” Murphy said. “You’re not pinned down to anything, and you can come and go as you please.”

Murphy said he used to work for an inland river transportation company, in which he worked as a personnel director.

During the course of his work of 23 years, Murphy said he helped operate tow boats on the river and two or three offshore vessels.

“We used to have an office here in Natchez, but they relocated to New Orleans,” Murphy said.

Murphy said he got the job as a younger man when he needed a job, and was lucky enough to find it.

“It’s a tough life, out on those boats because (my co-workers would) be out there for 30 days at a time, depending on which option they chose,” Murphy said. “Once they’d make (it) to pilot, they tended to stick around.”

Michael enjoys spending time in his garden, walking with his wife and their toy poodles Louie and Levi and photographing.

Murphy said he’s got into photography as a hobby, especially since he joined the St. Mary Basilica archives committee.

Murphy is the administrator of the committee’s website. He spends much of his spare time posting photos, contributing stories and making sure the website is up to date.

“We try to preserve the heritage of the church, organizing all the artifacts that we have,” Murphy said. “I was born and raised Catholic, my whole family was except for my mother, who was a convert.”

Meanwhile, Murphy continues to enjoy retirement — watering the flowers and watching the world go by.