Jeremy Herndon Blog

I’m so glad that we are in the part of the country that is having the extreme warm winter weather. Folks have been totally taking advantage of this warm weather by getting a lot of outside work done that generally doesn’t get started until the end of April. I am hoping that this weekend will be nice again so that I can get my tiller out and get at least one of the gardens tilled. The ground hasn’t been frozen in weeks so it is nice and moist and soft so that it should be a breeze to get tilled. I hope so because tilling is not one of my most favorite chores.

Our retired neighbor that lives across the street is starting to get to work on his backyard swimming pool, since it won’t be long until people are wanting to take a swim and cool off from the heat of the day. He was looking at new swimming pool liners to use this season as well as a new pool cover. I haven’t talked to him in a while to see if he was successful in finding all the pool supplies that he needs and if he needs any help with anything to get it ready. He is a really nice fellow and always extends an invitation to the neighbors to come and enjoy his pool, which we have done a few times a years since he had it built. It is a very nice pool that he takes much pride in and he certainly deserves it after working hard in the E.R. in town for so long. We are certainly blessed with good neighbors.

It has been a long time since I have put on a wetsuit and all the other gear that is necessary to enjoy the sport of scuba diving. So when I got an invite to go scuba diving on a weekend of good weather some time in the month of May with a good friend, I decided to drag out all of my scuba equipment to make sure I still had everything and that it is all in good working order. I know that I have put on some weight the last couple of years but I had not idea that I had gained more then my wetsuit could handle safely, so I either have to start dieting and losing weight or start looking around and pricing wetsuits in order to go ahead and enjoy a weekend of fun in the sun and the water with a friend that I don’t get to spend much time with these days.

I should be getting a decent amount of cash back in the next couple of weeks from doing my taxes and I could use some of that money to buy a new wetsuit, but there are so many other things that I really need and want. So I think I should start watching what I eat and get off of my butt and get some more exercise, it seems to be the best idea all the way around.

Every summer my parents took us all down to their summer house for fun in the sun and the river. Those were the days that were the best times for us all and I have thanked my parents a million times for giving us this wonderful opportunity back then. They still own that property, and have actually moved down there permanently, although the log cabin (which my dad always bragged to us that Davey Crockett helped him build it) is long gone and a nice modern house has been built right on the waterfront for them to enjoy all year round with plenty of bedrooms for us to use when we come down for the holidays and family functions when we can travel that far.

We spent most of our childhood summers playing in that wonderful river water, swimming, diving, boating, fishing, water skiing, tubing, crabbing and any other type of water activity that we could think of. The only problem was the darned jellyfish that would come out towards the end of July, all most every year. Getting stung was a real bummer and we would go to great lengths in order not to get stung, but it was inevitable no matter what we did. The only real way not to get stung was to go to the private pool that my folks paid the hefty membership dues for so that we could be in the nettle free water that we so enjoyed whenever possible.

Back in the real world when we were not down there by the river we would nag our parents endlessly to please buy a pool for us and our friends to use in the back yard, but they were not having anything to do with that idea. They really were not interested in finding and purchasing all of the pool supplies and all of the numerous pool accessories that go along with owning, operating and maintaining your own residential pool, besides the liability issues that kids just don’t understand. Instead of a pool in the area that would have been perfect for a pool we ended up with a garden that kept us busy with all the weeding and all the other hard labor that a good sized vegetable garden requires. At least we learned the value of a home garden full of all kinds of wonderful fruits and veggies that we enjoyed all year round thanks to my mother’s large freezer in the basement that was always over flowing with the fruits of our labor.