Our honey hole

I bought the piece of land next to my cabin from uncle Ken in 2004. The first thing I did was hire a man to build a pond and to clean up a little ground as well as bull doze an old house on the property.I took a couple of days off work so that Kenny Ray and I could watch the pond come together. As the man started I noticed for some reason there was a lot of snakes that got disturbed as he started cleaning the woods where the pond was going. This caught Kenny Ray and his dog Little Guy a black lab pup. They caught one it was a race between him and the dog to catch it,Kenny Ray won. Now all this commotion caught the dozer operator's eye and he stopped and turned the dozer off to watch Kenny Ray. After he caught it he came over to me to show us the snake and wanted to know if I wanted to pet it. I said no son I do not want to, he knowed I was afraid of snakes, he thought it was funny. I said son what are you going to do with it. Daddy I am going to tie him in a knot like the snake in Jungle Book. Little Guy sat and watched Kenny Ray and kept trying to take the snake away from him . After the snake was tied Kenny Ray picked up a big stick and hollered batter up . he dropped the snake and swung and drove the snake about 10 feet away and the race began again between boy and pup. The dozer driver just about to cry he was laughing so hard. after about 5 hits Kenny Ray said the snake not moving anymore.No son I guess not.
We watched for 3 days as the dozer moved the dirt and are pond came together,the house went down and about 6 that evening Kenny Ray and I went and got us pizza,and then set fire to the old house,we sat on the tailgate of my truck and watched
until the last embers began to fade away.the next weekend Dad and I started sowing grass seed
over the dam around the pond. Now Kenny Ray found this big hole fun to play in, a little's boy dream, mud,he played for a while then went and started riding his bike I got busy working an then I noticed it was quiet which was rare when you are around Kenny Ray.
I turned looking to see what he was up to, I could not get no out of my mouth soon enough as he had started over the pond dam on his bike, the hard way end over end 3 time's. I was running toward him as went to screaming and crying when I got to him he was siting there on the ground,Looking at me he grinned, as he was wiping tears from his face, he said dad did you see that. Yes son I did , are you o.k.? Yeah dad I am fine watch I will do it again. No you will not I said what are trying to do kill me, That's what you mother will do to me if you break something.
I did not think the pond would ever fill,3 years it only would get about half full and start leaking out the bottom from the weight of the water. My dad could not wait any longer and we ordered some fish to stock the pond. 25 channel catfish and 25 hybrid blugill, dad and Kenny Ray and I put the fish in together. Kenny ray did not care if it ever filled up . It was his private paradise, It was full of tad poles,and every Saturday when we got down to the farm it was a race to the swimming hole between a little boy and his dog.It was funny to watch them dive in the dog was a better diver to see him jump threw the air. They would play for hours Kenny Ray would grab a hold of Little Guy"s collar and that dog would pull him all over the pond. But that 4th winter we had a lot of moisture and it filled to the top and held Since then we added some largemouth and my dad put in some albino catfish to mess with Kenny Ray. My dad took care of those fish like they were his pets he would feed those fish every morning just past day light he walked out him and his dog Brute, a german shepard they would sit for about an hour and watch those fish eat the floating fish feed while they splashed there tails on the water. He told me all the time that they are a gift to his grandchildren. This past spring he had move some chairs along the road back to the pond at different place's so he could sit and rest as he had difficulty getting back there.He passed away this past August . Kenny Ray and I fished the pond 2 days after his funeral. We laughed and joked and talked and caught some nice fish. I know dad was pleased

God and the cabin on the hill

When I started building my hunting and fishing retreat back in the fall of 2001, little did I know the effect it would have on my whole family. I got 2 acres of ground from my uncle Ken and it was adjacent to another 23 acre parcel that he owned , that I had hunted on for the past 15 years at the time.Which I would buy while constructing the cabin, as we call it for some reason was only going to be a place to stay , a base camp for hunting and fishing in the pond that I would build as well as some of the surrounding lakes. I wanted it like home's I remembered from Kentucky as a child , No running water and no electricity , outhouse , potbelly stove . But as we went along with the building it turned out to be more, you know we might as well as put some vinyl sideing and , why don't you go ahead and get these windows they are a little better , lets go ahead and rough in the electric

and plumbing you may change your mind later and want it and then it will be there.

From day 1 my family and friends showed up to help. The day after the dozer finished clearing the land, we had a picnic my wife , son , mother and father , both sister's and there families, we had a great day discussing my plans over fried chicken. The kids and I planted grass

seed over the hill so we could try and hold some of the soil in place. The construction crew was

Kenny Ray, my nephews Dave and Dan , my dad , cousin Lester and his son Tim , and Henry Patton a friend of mine that I have known since the second grade. we worked weekends and vacations allot of the time it would be me and Kenny Ray and my dad. On some weekends even

before the roof went on I would spend the night with the kids in it, i would always read to them at night from a book called Danger true adventures in the outdoors, those were great times as the kids hung on every word. After the roof went on and the windows and doors, we began to use it for deer camp the first year Lester and I nearly froze as the fireplace did not heat like I thought it would but we a good time anyways. About this time my father was diagnosed with
copd and went on oxygen. He was living in a small broken down trailer and heating with kerosene
heaters and the fumes an oder was not helping him. I was concerned as my father was an alcoholic and at times could be abusive my concern was I did not want Kenny Ray to see that side of his grandfather. Well dad agreed to move in as long as I would hook up the electric and
put in a septic tank and water, which I did. Now I see god had all this planned dad had a decent place to live an dad helped me financially with the house projects as well as keep me motivated at times. He also got closer to me and my son as we spent more time with him . Dad lived there
till he passed away this past august. During the years before his death I decided that I wanted
to start a family cemetery the state came out and did some test and told me no. So I then said I
would go down and purchase enough plots for the family in the Bainbridge cemetery, but dad and mom decided they would purchase half of them with me and I never told them each one thinking I purchased half of the sixteen sites, my parents have been divorced since I was 12 and my father was not apart of my life for a long time. He and my mother became friends again , he
even spent the last few days of his life in her house with her and my sister taking care of him.
my mother fixed one of his favorite meals and spent the afternoon talking with him the day he died. God and the little cabin on the hill brought a family back together. thank you God