"Reflections on the Mill Pond"

You’ve all heard the saying "The ole gray mare just ain’t what she used to be." This week’s Rollin’ Down The River feature is about Merritt’s Mill Pond and that saying could well be said about the Mill Pond. It just ain’t what it used to be.
When spending time on the Mill Pond now, with all the hydrilla and algae, I find myself sounding old and a little cynical when I think that it just isn’t as pretty as it used to be. I think back to the many fond memories I have about the ole gray mare. My family briefly owned a house on the Mill Pond and I recall first swimming there when I was five or six years old. In my teenage years we used to spend time out there swimming, fishing and just kickin’ around. On some nights, especially when the moon was full, we would head to the Mill Pond after summer football or basketball practices for a moonlight swim.
In 1978 my parents bought me a 14 foot aluminum Jon boat with a 9 horse Montgomery Ward motor for my high school graduation. It wasn’t anything fancy and I’m pretty sure the motor was older than I was. You could sneeze wrong and the motor would shear a pin. You had to take the top cover off the motor half the time to rewrap the cord to get it to crank. But it was mine and I was captain of the ship. Many a carefree day was spent in my late teens and early 20’s serving as captain of the ship on that boat at the Mill Pond.
I remember the day that I was cooling off in a tube by the boat. My then girlfriend and now wife commented that there was a big snake in a tree not far away. Being the outdoorsman that I am, I kicked back in the tube and told her it was no problem. She then screamed as the snake made its way towards our boat. After scrambling to get aboard, I realized the anchor line was tied to the front boat handle, which was right at the water line and right where the snake was headed. I fought off the snake with a paddle and finally managed to get the anchor pulled up and we motored away.
The memories are too numerous to print. But the older I get the more of them I seem to recall. And I am still making memories on the Mill Pond as it is still one of my favorite places to spend time. And I find that my sons are making there own memories on the Mill Pond as the cool clear waters beckon them as well to come and enjoy the Mill Pond. So while the ole gray mare just ain’t what she used to be, Simply Put, the Mill Pond is still a treasure to be enjoyed by all.
From the front porch: Coach said there are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.

“The Value of a College Education ”

There’s an old country song that has the chorus of “it’s too hot to fish, too hot for golf and too cold at home.” Well I don’t know about it being too cold at home but it is certainly too hot to fish, golf or do much else outdoors unless it involves cooling off in a pool, river, lake or spring. The scary thing about this current heat wave is that we are just in the middle of June.

As I write this column on Tuesday night we’ve had temperatures in the upper 90’s for the last week. A check of the 10 day forecast calls for 10 more days of the same. Well there is one day in there that we’ll get a cool snap as they are predicting a high of only 92.

Some folks say that the first real heat wave in June is always the worst, theorizing that our bodies just haven’t adjusted to the heat yet. They go on to say that the same type of heat wave experienced in July or August is just as hot, but our bodies are more acclimated to the heat. Others would theorize that this much of a heat wave early in the summer is proof of global warming.

Of course I have my own theories about the heat and I’ve expressed them before in this column. As a whole, most of us just aren’t able to handle the heat like we used to, you know, the so called good ole days. We’ve gone soft. And being a middle aged, overweight and out of shape fellow like myself doesn’t help with the heat. I readily confess that I purposely spend as much time as I can in doors under the air conditioning during these heat waves. But I find myself embarrassed when some of us bellyache about the heat on the way from the parking lot to our air conditioned offices.

When I catch me or my co-workers complaining about the heat on the way to our offices I always remind myself out loud, “It could be worse. I could be roofing for a living on a day like today.” In the summer of 1979 I helped put on a new roof in the middle of July. Simply put, that sold me on the value of a good college education.

If it weren’t so hot I’d take my hat is off to all the folks that have to make a living outdoors this time of the year. But I’ll keep my hat on for the time being to keep my head cool. So drink up folks, water that is, and stay as cool as possible ‘cause it’s going to be a long hot summer.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob said be careful not to argue with an idiot because somebody might be watching and not be able to tell the difference.

“Rollin’ Down The River”

It’s back by popular demand and not a minute to soon. I’ve had several folks asking me when we are going again, with our summertime feature Rollin’ Down The River. For those unfamiliar with the feature, last summer I would paddle a section of the Chipola River, take a few photos and write an article about my trip. The general idea was to give our readers the feel of a summertime journey down the Ole Chipola. We also included a few articles and stories by our readers about trips they’ve taken on the river. The feature was extremely popular and folks are ready to get it going again.

Our final stop last summer was Peacock’s Bridge in southern Jackson County. We’ll pick back up there in a few weeks but first we’ll start the summer and paddle at least one of the main tributaries of the Chipola. This week we are featuring Blue Springs and later in the month we’ll feature Merritt’s Mill Pond and Spring Creek. While there are many folks that are familiar with Blue Springs, the Mill Pond and the Spring Creek, I thought it would be good to chronicle these sites since they have a direct connection with the Chipola. And after that I might even try to throw in a feature on Dry Creek, which I have never paddled before.

Next week we’ll have a “Rollin’ Down The River” for a good cause as we’ll have an article and photos from this past weekend’s Canoeing For Cancer Fundraiser. I wasn’t able to attend due to having weekend duty at my real job but Shelia Hayes and the gang did another fine job of raising money for the fight against cancer. And all the while they spent a beautiful day on Spring Creek and the river.

Once we get those tributaries chronicled, the plan calls for picking back up at Peacock’s Bridge. From Peacock’s Bridge we’ll quickly depart Jackson County and paddle into Calhoun County. Notable stops on this leg will include several springs, Hayes Landing and Johnny Boy’s Landing. South of Johnny Boy’s Landing, which is west of Altha, we’ll encounter Big Lookin’ Tremble.

South of Big Lookin’ Trembel we head to…, well, I don’t know where we’ll head to south of Big Lookin’ Tremble. You see I’ll be in uncharted waters, at least for me, once we get south of Big Lookin’ Tremble. So I’ve hooked up with Chris Matthews to help me chronicle the lower portions of the Chipola River. Chris is a veteran at canoeing the river and knows his way around this neck of the river. I hope everyone will enjoy their summer and our upcoming “Rollin’ Down The River” features.

So, Simply Put, saddle up. It’s time to go paddling.

From the front porch: Coach said our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude toward us.

"It’s Been a Good Ride For Heiar and The Indians ”

Last week the news came that many of us local sports fans have been expecting for some time now. Greg Heiar, Chipola’s Head Basketball Coach for the past five seasons, announced that he was leaving to become an assistant coach at Southern Mississippi.
The five year ride with Heiar at the helm has been phenomenal and we’ve known that he would eventually leave to pursue his goal of being a division one head coach. His record at Chipola was 165-15 and the Indians captured four out of the last five State Championships. In making four trips to the National Tournament, the Indians made it to the final four three out of the four times.
Having been one of the basketball announcers for Indian basketball during Heiar’s tenure at Chipola, I’ve had the opportunity to watch him at work. There are several attributes that serve Heiar well. Obviously he’s got a good head for the game. You don’t win 165 games in five years, which is a winning percentage of just over .900, without knowing the X’s and O’s of the game.
But Heiar has two other coaching skills that sometimes went unnotice. First there is the recruiting. He could arguably be considered the best JUCO recruiter in the nation during the past five years. The level of talent that he brought into Chipola the last five years was just amazing. And each year he seemed to outdo himself from the previous year.
He was able to convince some of the nation’s top basketball players to come to a rural area like Jackson County. He did so by promoting Chipola’s great basketball tradition and Chipola’s approach to treating their athletes like family. For many of these young men, who may have come from difficult backgrounds, that family like environment and a packed house at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center were just the right combo. They could come to Chipola, be treated like family, get on track academically, fine tune their basketball skills and be on a nationally recognized team.
To me though, his greatest skill came in molding 12 young men into a cohesive unit each year. Remember most of these 12 players were the star players on their respective high school teams. Only five can play at one time and managing all those egos and attitudes is no easy task. But Heiar had that ability to get the team to pull together. Oh I’m sure there were arguments and heated discussions that most of us fans never saw. But when they hit the floor the Indians played as a team.
So as Coach Heiar departs from our little corner of the world, we all wish him the best. He has set a high water mark that will be hard to follow for new interim Head Coach Jake Headrick. Simply Put, it’s been a good ride for Coach Heiar and the Indian Nation.
From the front porch: Uncle Bob said that when sailors are trying to navigate through high seas, there are a lot of wise men ashore.