Life as a Southerner

So I was with my girls a few days ago, and they told me that I should be updating my blog to keep everyone updated on our mission. I suspect it was their way of saying that I really should get with it, so being the obedient mom that I am, here goes.

As you probably already know, we are serving a temporal affairs mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a campground in Dudley, North Carolina. When we first started the process of submitting our papers, we had decided we would ask for a farmland reserve mission assignment and were told that based on the timing and the needs, we would probably be sent to Florida or Texas. About that same time, we learned that Eagles Nest Camp had just been approved for a senior missionary couple to help in the renovation of an old Boy Scout camp the Church had purchased, and were told that we could be sent there if we would like. Since Casey and Maren both live in North Carolina, we decided that was where we wanted to go. Long story short, we arrived at Eagles Nest on Feb 1, and as you can see, there was snow all over the camp. This is the dogwood tree outside our front door. Notice the road just behind the sign on the left. That was the first thing I had to get used to. You can tell that it's just a small country road--one lane of traffic each way. And, since most of the houses face the road, and are set back just a little ways, with all the mailboxes on the side of the road, I was thinking that 35 should be the ultimate speed limit. Wrong! You have to go at least 50 or you could have a line of cars backed up behind you. I'm not sure what the real speed limit is, but I do know that they have some curves that say 45, so I guess that they anticipate you'll be going a little faster than that on the straightaways.

The next thing I learned was how to dispose of things you don't want. This pile of stuff was in the field right behind our little cottage. It was a real eyesore, but I looked out one day, and saw someone with a backhoe and the next thing I knew . . .
things were beginning to disappear. You'll notice all the cuttings in the center of the picture--they're gone too. That's the burn pile.


And here's a burn pile in action down by the lodge. We have them all over, and as long as there's no burn ban, we can just "fire" away.

After we'd been here a couple of weeks, Maren and her family came to spend the day. The boys wanted a ride on the bobcat and loved it. Ivy thought it looked like a lot of fun too, until Grandpa turned it on, and then she had a change of heart.
A few days later, we had a work crew of volunteers from the stake come in to work on the dam. It has been a major headache. Without it we have no lake, so we were anxious to have it repaired in time for the camping season.

Finally in March, we closed the gate and it began to fill up. Sand was brought in to make a little beach; we put a trampoline in the middle; ropes to designate swimming areas; got six canoes, twelve life jackets, and we were in business.
Spring was beautiful! For some reason this is one of my favorite pictures. I was walking from the lodge up to our cottage one afternoon and glanced over to my right and there was this lone dogwood in the midst of all those other trees.
Back home, the same dogwood that I began with. All the plants have since been planted and are now somewhat larger. That's my job--constantly trying to keep everything alive and flourishing. Wish I had a greener thumb!