Old Stompin' Grounds

This weekend I spent special time in a special place with some very special people.

My parents, godparents and I met at Lake Martin on Saturday for a day of boating. Kent and Deborah are second parents to me, and their sons, like brothers.

The girls sat in the back of course, gossiping about the boys, roughing the waves, and soaking up the sun. I loved on my mama, 'cause she's like the.best.eva. I loved on my mama #2 too. 'Cause she's definitely the best eva too. She has been there since the day I was born. Well, before that actually. I guess my mama had her first. But I'm her favorite.

We dined at Sinclair's, where we ate our weight in GIANT onion rings, and enjoyed some shade. And then back on the water, we did a drive by of Chimney Rock. Kent and Daddy jumped of this monster many times as boys, and yes, girls this is THE PLACE.... We all remember my story bid night in the Chi O chapter room....we're supposed to tell a story....I stand up, long winded of course, and tell 54 strangers how just a week or so before starting college my BFF Leah and I are at the lake and the dare devil in me climbs to the top (80 feet mind you) and jumps! Atempt #1: success! Attempt #2...not so much....a broken tailbone.... Oh memories.... Pitiful thing is I'd do it again!!

Lake Martin is so very special to all of us on that boat, to our whole family. My dad's parents lived there for a very long time, as did the Speigner's (Kent's parents) just two houses down. I have so many precious memories on this water, of learning to ski, or buying candy necklaces at the marina, of fishing off the dock, of pontoon rides, and Granddaddy's itchy fiberglass fishing boat, and of course, Murphy, their Springer Spaniel.

When Kent pulled into the old sleu, a lump formed in my throat, I wanted to turn back time so very badly. The house has changed, but some things are so familiar to the 12 year old inside me who misses her Granddaddy still, and the lake house.

This was the boathouse, which has now been added on to and become a guesthouse. I spent quality time with Granddaddy here watching him piddle with this tools. For some reason, I remember a big vice mounted on counter top, probably because it was eye level with me, the very loud air compressor, and my most favorite....a huge bucket of corn. I'd get handfuls of corn and feed the ducks, that would all but walk INTO the boathouse with us to eat out of our hands.

My dad's workshop reminds me of this boathouse, vice and all, and makes me smile every time I walk in and see him piddling. Maybe I'll buy him ducks for Christmas.

See those azalea bushes? This is a good one... Jessie, our cousin Lindsey and I were hunting Easter eggs one Easter weekend, and good ol' Jessie, the lover of all sweets, picked up a delicious white round object in those bushes and popped that puppy in her mouth and ate it! Turned out it was a MOTHBALL! Oh Jessie! What followed was a very interesting afternoon of calls to the poison control hotlines, and drinking vomit-inducing Ipecac!

The seawall is still the same too. I would dig up the clay that squished between my toes under water, and mold it into the finest pottery around. It would dry on that seawall all day and my Grandmother would tell me just how perfect it was! That was also the same seawall many a snake would sunbathe on...OOC!

All in all, it was a wonderful day, with the most special people in the world to me. I loved hearing their lake stories from Kent and Daddy growing up, and pointing out the old neighbor's homes, and spending time with my moms. :) Now as soon as I come up with about $1.5mil, I'll go back and buy my grandparent's old place (my how property values have changed on that lake! OOC!) and retire there! Happy Labor Day, friends!