We are at Willow Grove Campground overlooking the lake. We spent Saturday on Cleo (Cleopatra's barge). Sara and Keith came up for the day. They are planning to come again this Saturday. I think I could live here. The temperature is about 15 degrees cooler than in Nashville. The lake water is so clear you can see about 12 feet down. The water temperature is 80 degrees on the surface. I jumped in and felt nothing but cool, clean water. Getting out was another problem. Steve forgot to put a ladder on the boat. He was thinking fishing, not swimming. Keith made a rope ladder I put my feet in, then they both pulled me on board. How embarrassing. Of course, Keith just jumped right into the boat. Needless to say, Steve ordered a ladder yesterday for me.

We floated around the lake and did a little fishing. The lake is 120 ft in some spots. Today we bought a contour map to find shallower water for fishing. We haven't been back out again, yet. Steve is doing a little more work on the boat. We may drive to Sergeant York's birthplace tomorrow. It's close to here and I love history stuff. Although, it's hard to leave the campsite, the view is heavenly. There is also a beach area for swimming. That sounds good for tomorrow.

We've had some showers here, a few thunderstorms, but mostly beautiful weather. I think I could live here. Did I say that already?

The evening mist of the Obee River greeted our arrival. Standing on a fishing pier we watched the clear, cool water flow swiftly under our feet. Small trout from the fish hatchery swam in the swirls of the shallow water as if caught in a hurricane. The campground is quiet, except for the symphany of birds and crickets. The art pallette is filled with shades of yellow, brown, and black from butterfly that landed near my chair. When we seek it, we can find perfection.

Mississippi again

July 6th. I decided I should start dating my entries. This made sense as I started looking back and couldn't remember when things happened.

Steve fixed up an old laptop for Melanie in Mississippi. We're trying to update Waverly to the computer age. For those of you who don't know what Waverly is, it's a pre-civil war mansion that my friend lives in and gives tours in. so, we mailed the computer to Melanie and she had so much trouble with it that Steve decided to drive down there and fix it. We took of on the 6th, it's only a six hour drive in the car. We stayed in the mansion in the master bedroom. While there I wrote an article for Melanie about the mansion to send to newspapers. Then I took some pictures for her, and I'm redoing some of her brochures. I also redid the stationary for her. Mr. Robert, her father, was so excited he broke out a bottle of his best wine and went for the wine glasses.

"Oh, no" Melanie said, "He's getting the $2500 a piece wine glasses." He poured wine and insisted we toast. Steve and I held our breath as we clinked the $2500 a piece wine glasses against each other. I insisted on a picture in the dining room in front of the portrait of Melanie's mother. It sets the atmosphere of the mansion.

Melanie tells us stories of the little ghost girl that lives in the house. She said her mother used to put pennie on the floor in the ghost room in tic-tac-toe configurations. They next morning the pennies would be in different places. She would also find indentations on the bed as if a small child had laid on it. The ghost girl would call to her mother during the day when she was alone. Melanie was sleeping in the ghost room one night and saw the girl float across the room. We went upstairs to the ghost room and found an indentation on the bed. Steve decided to leave three dimes (he said they have copper in them now) on the table next to the bed. He placed them in a triangle with tail sides up and we left. We forgot about them the next morning when we left. Halfway home we called Melanie to check them. The dimes were no where to be found. There had been no tourists yet that day. Mr. Robert always goes upstairs in the morning to check all the rooms making sure they are ready for the tourists. He said there were no dimes on the table. They looked all over the room and the mansion and they were never found. I think the ghost girl likes Steve. They are still looking and Mr. Robert said he is never going in the ghost room again.

We ended up bringing her computer back because it crashed, but Steve can fix it. I swear, he could fix a rainy day. I've never been around a man that can fix things. We stayed two nights but had to leave. There is no air conditioning in the mansion, only a window unit in the small ached kitchen. At night all the windows and doors are left open for the natural cirulation. It was still hot. During the hottest part of the day we stayed in the kitchen. In the evening we would sit on the back porch.

I always have a good time in Mississippi. They feed me well, fresh eggs from their hens, pear preserves, homemade buscuits, ham, Jimmy Dean sausage (Jimmy Dean came to Waverly and Mr. Robert told him he made the best sausage ever), and Melanie's strawberry cheesecake. I always eat too much there.

Center Hill Lake

I promise to keep my blog updated. I have been at home too long. When I'm home, I get manic about keeping my house clean. It's hard sometimes. Four dogs and four cats can wreck a house. So, Steve and I took a few days and explored Center Hill Lake. What a fun trip. We stayed at Long Branch Campground. It sat just below the dam. We would go down a concrete stairway to fish on the river. Every five hours the dam would generate power, which meant the water on the river rose about six feet and the current was really fast. These are the times you do not want to fish. Yes, I'm learning to fish. I'm learning how to cast for trout. There were a couple of young boys hanging out with us while we fished. Every time I would bring my rod back to cast they would back up all the way to the stairs. They had seen me cast. I caught a couple of trees, moss, and a few sticks, "fish sticks" Steve calls them.

We drove down river to "Betty's Island" to fish some more. We waded out into the water with the fly fishermen. After about an hour I CAUGHT A TROUT!!!!! I heard a fly fisherman close to me say "You got to be kidding" as he was still casting for fish.

Overall it was a very relaxing trip. I always seem to write better when I'm traveling. I think it's because I don't have to worry about cleaning the house.