David had a major Medical Hic- Up.   So this summer he was unable to help.

With all of the extra work, I just plain had no free time to write.   He is on the path

to recovery so  come 2011, the entries will begin again.

Winter has finally made an exit after months of record cold, snow and ice.

There were some hardy RV’er souls who enjoyed the pristine snow covered views.  But now Redbuds and Dogwood have decorated the landscape with color. The spring flowers have exploded. And the grass is growing as I write.

We are in the process of doing Spring chores.  Including pool deck preparation

Here’s a picture to prove it along with one which documents my Highly Technical method of deflating the pool-cover balloons.  Oh, yeah, the photographer will be drawn & quartered soon for this “less than flattering” snapshot!

It’s time to pick up winter debris, mow, clean everything and hope the plants all come up as survivor’s of the challenge of this past winter.  The cabin is now ready and the pool is uncovered.  Another month of preparation and it will be Splash Time.

Today a baby bunny was in the campground.  A little bundle of fur and cuteness. It was young enough not to have gotten The Memo about Run From Humans.  The bunny let me   carefully petted it for a few moments, then it safely hopped into the woods.

WELCOME TO SPRING EVERYONE !!

I have always loved Hummingbirds. Their iridescent colors and darting flight patterns fascinate me. I am in awe of their ability to move their wings 40-80 times per second. That can increase to 200 times per second during the mating season.

After one Sunny fall day, my admiration has been slightly altered.

Every fall, I collect seeds from my plants for the following year’s plantings. Some of these require a drying period followed by removal of the seeds from the pod. It was a

Beautiful afternoon as I was shucking the hulls of seeds, I stopped to watch one particularly aggressive Hummingbird. He was relentlessly chasing off any other hummingbirds that crossed his territory. He paused about 6-7 feet away from me then hung in the air looking at me.

How cute, I thought. Then IT HAPPENED. He dive bombed my face. Five thousand miles per hour (maybe a bit slower). My hands flew up to cover my face, I ducked my head, the tray of seeds were scattered to the winds. At the last Nanosecond, The would-be Killer Hummingbird veered to the left. But, He came back.

As he stopped and stared again, it dawned on me that I had my glasses on. Hey, better late than never. I removed them and he soon lost interest. Being somewhat anal about these things, I placed the glasses on the chair at the same angle they were in at the time of The Attack. Positioning my self near where the KH had been, I confirmed my suspicions. They were a mirror. Readers beware. Never look a Hummingbird in the eye

Not if your glasses are reflecting the bird image back to the potential tiny but mighty attacker.

So I went on to a better activity. Just Enjoying the Fall foliage

This year I would like to share the abbreviated story of Sgt.Robert Welsey Tucker

Members of his family are campers at Deep Valley and just wonderful people.

Wesley was born Aug, 1985 in Cookeville , TN.   He was a 2003 graduate of Celina, Tn.

He was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Jamestown, TN. He Died on October 13, 2005 in Iraq

Spc. Robert Wesley Tucker, 20, of Hilham, TN, died near Ad Dujayl, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device (IED) struck his Humvee during combat operations The incident occurred after the soldiers received word that another patrol had been hit by an IED several miles away. Sgt. Tucker, three other soldiers and an Iraqi national interpreter, had been sent out to assist. Sgt Tucker drove the vehicle and was thrown on impact. His death came less than two weeks before he was scheduled to return home.

Wesley had married his high school sweetheart and they had a beautiful daughter before he shipped out. While in that country, Wesley did what he could for the local children. At Wesley’s request, his family in Tennessee sent toys for those children.

In an interview after Wesley’s death his mother Kim was quoted as saying “He loved the kids. He’d give them food and call and tell me, ‘Momma, go buy them some toys, some Matchbox cars’, and I would.” “He saw one man drinking out of a mud puddle, so Wes gave him water. I’m just so proud that God gave him to me.”

Sgt. Tucker is buried on his family’s property in Hilham, Tn. The County Highway Department, where he had worked in civilian life, built a road to the Sgt. Tucker Cemetery.

Each year there is a Memorial Motorcycle Ride around Dale Hollow Lake. The proceeds from this ride were set up to honor Sgt. Wesley Tucker’s family and to give back to Celina in the form of a scholarship.

Unfortunately, Wesley is not the only area soldier to die in Irag , Afghanistan or the other world wide locations where our military personnel protect us all.

Remember Them All and their families. Honor Them All. Their gift to us is the Freedom we enjoy.

The Tennessee Rain Maker.

A seemingly normal, harmless man resides in Middle Tennessee. Let’s call him “Arty”.

Arty is possessed with the Rain Curse. Even his brother, who is a preacher, will confirm the existence of this affliction. When Arty goes camping, it WILL rain sometime during the outing. Example: Friday was warm and sunny. Until about a half hour before Arty pulled in. Arty arrived for the Labor Day weekend hours before the rest of his family, contending that he did so in order to have the camper set up when wife and kids got here. Then it happened. A torrential downpour, monsoon style, bringing visions of floods.

To most people in the campground, the Storm from Nowhere was a surprise. To Arty it was a regular, even expected, occurrence. In all fairness, a chance of showers had been in the weather report on all Nashville TV channels. But, with Arty, it became more than a shower.

Demonstrating my past-life skills in delegating responsibility, I posted the sign you see pictured here next to the office entrance. It was effective. Even when hints of clouds began to form, campers went looking for “Arty”. His wife helped by calling him out of the camper if people were looking for him.

Least you think that this was a one-time event, we reviewed the other times he had camped here. You guessed it- some rain, sometime, every time. So, in the future (I have his wife’s approval) I will be assigning Arty an arrival time way before anyone else is due.

But our great group of campers had a wonderful Holiday weekend in spite of “arty”.  Hope Y’All had a Fun Filled Labor Day.

Last week Deep Valley was the site of a School Trip from the Beta Club. These young people are the academic successes of Livingston Middle School, Livingston, TN. They had an opportunity to hike, explore the wildlife, learn about Trout farming, do a little fishing, play games, swim and of course, enjoy a wonderful picnic of hot dogs and other summer culinary delights. A positive reward for academic achievement. How Wonderful !

There have been many family reunions, birthday parties, church get-togethers at Deep Valley

One party-hosting Mom listed the benefits as “I don’t have to clean my house, the kids are never bored and I don’t have to clean up….priceless”     Who can argue with that ?

Winner of the Gilligan Award

The “Gilligan Award”

Names in this entry have been changed to Protect the Innocent and Save the children from ridicule. A family from Michigan joined us again this year for a week’s vacation at Deep Valley. We will call Dad “Fred Dumbsworth”

The Dumbworth family has a boat and have become quite enamored with our Lake.

A few days into the vacation they returned with quite the story. Like most boaters, they had pulled into a cove and were all in the water, lazily bobbing around in life jackets, enjoying the clear waters and stunning scenery. Then one son yelled, “hey, the boat is taking on water”. At that moment, the parents noticed that the top of the rear end of the boat was only a couple of inches from the water. Mom’s first thought was “How do we explain this to the insurance company”. Followed quickly by speculating how far would they have to swim to get help. Dad admitted to thinking, “Oh this is not good but hey, we’re on vacation, So what the Heck.” (maybe I embellished that one a bit but not by much). One son (the very quick thinking one-he gets that from his mother) dove down and plugged the hole which should have had a plug in it with his fingers. The second son jumped into the boat, turned on the pump and rummaged through the boat storage areas for the spare plug. Which luckily they had. After the situation was under control, Dad casually commented “ I thought that plug was a little loose when I checked it”. As one son noted, “That’s probably something you don’t want to tell many people”. But now the cat was out of the bag.

I could not let this one go by without Special Treatment. So I created a Medallion with the following inscription :

“1st Annual Gilligan Award. Presented In recognition of the Best Effort to Sink a Boat and Strand a Family on an Island in Dale Hollow Lake” It came on a Bright Purple beaded chain (fashion statement by the DV stars). The presentation was done in an appropriately serious, though sarcastic, tone and followed immediately by howling laughter from all. So pictured here is the Recipient with his award and the Spare Boat Plug.

I was asked why the wording included “1st Annual” and I replied, “Oh they will be back again next year and knowing Fred Dumbsworth…”

A Campeground full with wonderful folks for the 4th of July.  Mother Nature cooperated, waiting until the fireworks over the Lake were complete before giving everyone a free car/truck wash.  The Pools were in constant use by little and big kids.  The game area was enjoyed until the Quiet Hour arrived.  Many campers took advantage of the hiking trails and hiked over to the Trout Farm for fishing.  A few hardy souls also took the  trail down to Mitchell Creek.  That is the trail  with a Sign Posted at the start  “1/2 miles Down, 20 Miles Back.” Never have I been asked to revise the wording.   New friends were made, old friends reunited.  It doesn’t get better than that!

A wonderful crowd of campers joined in the Official Start of Summer. Although the forecast was iffy, Mother Nature delivered better days than predicted. The few showers did not dampen spirits or the fun.

We had a Cornhole tournament in one group, complete with bleachers ( lawn chair level only) and an exuberant cheering section. Then there was the “Very Junior” division, as you can see from the pictures.

The pool was in constant use but I have to admit, it was the kids who jumped right in . Most adults tried my wimpy approach and eased into the pools. But the water warmed a bit each day in the sun. It’s 78 today. Little ones and big folks alike made new friends and in some cases, met up with old camping friends. (No reflection on anyone’s age, just time of acquaintance)

If swimming, playing lots of games, hiking, fishing or doing Lawn Chair Relaxing Marathons would not make you hungry, I guarantee that the aroma’s in the campground had everyone’s palate salivating.

I overheard a few campers exchange of Trout recipes. Luckily I got to sample some wonderful barbecue’s, veggies, salads & desserts. Just to be polite of course.

It took a bit longer to get here than normal but It is finally Summer !!!!

First I should tell you that all parties mentioned in this entry are friends, having met here on our Inaugural weekend. Now they plan their camping trips to Deep Valley together

Susan S. of Algood, Tn. Was declared the First Place Winner (out of one contestant) In the “Best Use of Non-Road Kill Natural Foods.” This clever lady found a recently deceased mole. She artistically laid it on a white plate and covered it with Barbeque sauce. The sauce dripped Elegantly down the sides of the mole and Susan had swirled the ends of the sauce on the plate. Ala: Food Network- Gourmet Dining.

She then gave it to another camper, a rather large man commonly called Bear.

Susan presented the plate with the billing of “Here is a Fancy, Nutrious

dessert made just for you. “

A very long repulsive look was all that her gift received from the recipient.

For Presentation, Susan received at A.

For creativity, she received A+

For number of laughs provided to the waiting audience, she got A++++++