B*L*A*S*T from the Past!

CAUTION: This post will cause you gasp. This post will cause you shock. This post should cause lots of laughter. Because old pictures do that. And that's what this post is full of. Old pictures of me and my family on Lake Hartwell. In honor of the new addition of Riverhaven, I thought it would be fun to look back.

Enjoy! (I will have a brief commentary on each picture ...)

Yes, this is me. Seems I had a flair for the dramatic at one time. Mr. Wonderful says that if he's ever seen a spitting image of our middle son Blaine, this is it. I think he meant that in the sweetest of ways.

This would be me and my dad. I'm on an army float, of sorts. All I remember about that float was that I could dive onto it off the dock and torpedo across the cove. And I was sporting my favorite of hair-dos ... the Shirley Temple ... I loved my curly hair. Really.

This would be me (in the tube - yes, that's a REAL inner tube from a REAL tire ... a REAL LARGE tire), my mom and my sister. Obviously, Tam is proud of her IBM shirt. Oh - and that little dog there is Dixie ... she really was my best friend.

My sister ... I have a bazillion pictures of her positioned just like this with a book ... all through the years ... she LOVES to read ... need a good book suggestion? She's your girl.

That's Mom in the boat pulling me up on 2 skis. Don't really know why Dad's not driving. He always drove. But not this time, I guess.

This is Tamara & I skiing together. I'm on the left. In the life belt. Pretty sure that's illegal, but I loved that old yellow belt. It saw me through many a summer and many a ski run. And those blue skis ... they were my favorite too. You'll see them again in a coming post. Stay tuned!

My favorite picture of Mom. Laying on the edge of the lake, Dixie beside her, enjoying the view. Because she loves the lake. Immensely. Immeasurably. And now that my Dad has bought her another place, he says he has fulfilled his main goal for her in their 44 years of marriage. Good job Dad! We're so glad we get to enjoy her wish granted as well!

This is my grandfather, Daddy Jones. He was a south Georgia peanut farmer. He always had on those khaki pants. Always. With Levi Garrett in the back pocket. And probably some in his mouth too.

And this is my grandmother, Mama Jones. She, unlike Daddy Jones, got on her suit and got in the water. I think we probably drove her crazy, tugging on that float. Which, by the way, was always considered an 'adults only' float. No kids could ever use it. For good reason. Which only made us want to use it more.

Tam and I on the front porch of the trailer. Mom named this lake place Sweet Deliverance. She was so proud of it! I think Tamara was having some sort of glasses issue here ...

Me on the left, Tam on the right. I'm in yet another real inner tube. We had a whole fleet of them. When left on the banks of the lake during a thunderstorm, they would blow all over the cove. Fun times retrieving them all. Dad, who thought of everything, sprayed them all with a white line. Prevented confusion and tire stealing in the cove.

Favorite picture of my dad. He liked to keep the grass short down by the water. I love the

cut-off shirt, that I believe was one of his old softball shirts. A real sense of style, he has.

A little creativity ... we didn't have a fishing boat, so Dad made one. With the 'adults only' float. Diggin' it ...

'Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money.'

-Anonymous

'... indeed my heritage is beautiful to me.'

-Psalm 16:6