An Easter Without

This past weekend we headed for camp and the Easter Weekend. The weather was perfect and the woods were beautiful. Paul and Michael turkey hunted with no luck, but they did hear plenty. Spencer, Austin and I started working around the camp and Trent showed up also.
Denise, Wanda and Hillary helped with everything from cooking, to cleaning, to making sure we did not get too down.
Everyone pitched in to make the camp look as nice as possible, felt like we needed to do that for Dad.
Paul Jones came by and we had a great visit, then the boys headed for the golf course to battle it out.
That night we cooked steaks on the grill and had a really good meal and sat around the fire telling old stories and sharing a drink.
Sunday, no turkeys again, but the hogs are back in full force.  Church was at Eden at 10. We worked that morning on the yard, then had a big lunch and headed back to the Valley.
It felt good to be there and maybe Dad is hanging out there too.

Hershel Howell Leaves For Camp

Monday my Dad left this world or maybe left Water Valley to permanently stay at the Christmas Place, which was his idea of heaven. He was 87, and to us still young and vibrant. Everyone here is devastated but know that he went out with his boots on, as they say. The pain is great right now but I will find some humor and tell more stories as time goes by. I will always miss him and carry him in my heart. Hershel Howell was a man, a man that lived life to the fullest and just like he wanted, a true force of Nature.

Fish, Feathers, or Treasure?

According to our resident turkey hunting professional (ie Dad), there is not a damn turkey on the whole Christmas Place. They are gone. So basically, Dad sits in the woods catching a few zzzz's in the morning then gets ready to go fishing with Paul Jones. Sounds absolutely terrible, right?
The crappie are about to start biting and the whole property is coming alive with the beautiful weather. Since the turkeys won't cooperate, the hogs have left and gone into the darkest part of the bottoms, and the fish are not quite ready, I guess it is time to bring out the Metal Detector and once again search for the lost Christmas Place Treasure.