Mother’s Day in the Lake of the Ozarks
May 17, 2013 at 7:14 pm 10 comments
My grandma’s house today. No longer owned by the family, it’s been allowed to decay. She built it herself from solid stone with help from my uncles & cousins in 1940. In the old days, she grew glorious roses and strawberries sweet as jam.
My grandma’s house from the road. She’d get snowed in every winter and have her projects – weaving rugs, tooling leather, embroidering tapestries. I remember when she got running water and indoor toilet, then a telephone and finally TV.
I took a hiatus from The Black Scroll to fly/drive to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for Mother’s Day.
The Ozarks was the home of my Dad’s mother and many of my extended family. I used to spend the summers and school holidays there, roaming the woods, fishing and hunting with my cousins.
It was in the Ozarks that my imagination flourished. Lying on a warm boulder beside the lake on a hot summer day with dragonflies zooming round my ears, I’d imagine I was an Indian princess or a pioneer girl about to be kidnapped by a handsome brave.
Swinging in a hammock at my Aunt Jerry’s house, I devoured her romance novels with one man and two women – the angel and the not so angelic. Even then, I thought – why can’t a woman have two men?
My Mom and Dad. Ages 88 and 89. Married 66 years. On the deck of their house in the Lake of the Ozarks on Big Buffalo Creek. 47 miles to nearest Walmart & hospital. 20 miles to nearest town Cole Camp, population 1200.
You have to cross four of these fords to get to my parent’s place. If it rains hard, you wait til the water goes down. This is road WW. You get there first from B and then W. Those are paved roads. WW, the last 5 or so miles to my parents place, is dirt/gravel.
Entrance to the Eagle Club where we ate Mother’s Day Breakfast prepared by the menfolk. Note warning, “No firearms allowed.” But smoking was. No windows at all in the building. We gobbled down our scrambled eggs and sausage in a cloud of tobacco smoke.
Here’s where my mom and I drank coffee in the mornings and had our bourbon in the evenings. The strip of water you see in background is the Big Buffalo Branch of the Lake of the Ozarks. My parents own the land on this side of the water. One man owns all the land on the other. Can’t see the nearest neighbors.
Here’s my Dad on his new toy. He has cleared about 5 acres of forest around the house just with a chain saw. Will be 90 years old October 2014!
Big Buffalo Creek as it narrows from the Lake. The water can rush over the concrete slab ford in heavy weather, washing pickup trucks downstream. Note the clear water naturally purified by the gravel bed. You can drink right from the creek.
The roads never had names when I was a kid. About 10 years ago, streets signs appeared. This one is named for my family.
Buzzards looking for prey. I saw foxes, coyotes, deer, tortoises, rabbits, raccoon, wild turkeys, ducks, geese and many other species of birds including cardinals, my favorite. Heard the whip-o-will and owls at night.
My parent’s house from the road. The hardtop iced over last winter, and they had no power for 2 days. This is called Gore Hill, BTW 🙂
Entry filed under: Celebrations. Tags: Big Buffalo Creek, Cole Camp, Grandma's house, Lake of the Ozarks, Mother's Day.
S. L. Gore 
1.
bookgroups4kids | May 17, 2013 at 8:36 pm
What great childhood memories you have! It sounds like you had a restful time. -D
2.
Sandra Gore | May 17, 2013 at 8:51 pm
It was a real live trip down Memory Lane 🙂
3.
Anne R. Allen | May 17, 2013 at 8:54 pm
What a gorgeous place. And your parents are amazing! How lucky that you can go back into this world. It must be a little like time-travel.
4.
Sandra Gore | May 17, 2013 at 9:13 pm
Not a little 😉
5.
david georgi | May 17, 2013 at 10:56 pm
Your parents place is a lot like my brothers. He has three locked gates on a dirt road that is impassable in snow and rain. You author’s site looks really good!
6.
Sandra Gore | May 17, 2013 at 11:04 pm
Got a whole lot of photos of NO TRESPASSING and KEEP OUT signs. Thanks that you like my author site upgrade. Worked on it at beginning of month.
7.
Ann Calhoun | May 18, 2013 at 1:10 pm
What a wonderful place. Shame the old homestead is going to ruin. Wouldn’t that be a great place to turn into a writing retreat. Your folks are amazing. Hardy stock is all I can say. Thanks for the grand tour. Beautiful country!
8.
Sandra Gore | May 19, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Definitely a retreat from the world. Come full summer, all the varmints will be out. Scorpions, ticks, chiggers, horseflies, copperheads, timber rattlers. And those are the ones smaller than bobcats, wild boars and cougars 😉 Still, I feel there has to be a book here 🙂
9.
Janice Canaday Plattner | May 18, 2013 at 2:58 pm
So good to see your mom & dad. I didn’t know that your grandmother build her own house! What a remarkable set of grandparents we both had. I knew you dad pulled himself up, but never realized from how far. Much love to you and your family! Your cousin,
10.
Sandra Gore | May 19, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Dad made it to the top of Gore Hill. 😉