September 4, 2019
I actually wrote the majority of this piece three days ago (Sunday), but between being exhausted from the Labor Day onslaught of campers and making the 100-mile round-trip to Hopkinsville on both of our days off (Monday and Tuesday), I been unable to post. Suffice it to say that Labor Day weekend has come and gone, and everyone who works here is grateful it’s over. By Saturday, the second day of the holiday weekend, Hillman Ferry Campground was a zoo.
All 374 campsites were occupied with at least two campers and usually more That’s a lot of people. A good many of them invited friends to come up and visit, and many of those friends brought brought trailers full of toys of some sort: a boat, jet ski, or golf cart, not to mention another person or more. Accented by children on bikes and skateboards and campers headed to the dump station on their golf carts, hauling their Blue Boys (container used to transport and dump black water), the campground was a constant sea of activity.
In addition to the campers here in the campground are the ones camping in the backcountry of LBL; Demumbers and Nickell Branch are the two nearest to Hillman Ferry. In the time I’ve worked here, I’ve become acquainted with a few of the people who live there year-round; they come to H-F to take showers or buy ice. It was an eye-opener for me to meet people who, by either circumstance or choice, are living primitively (no utilities.) In the Land Between the Lakes, an annual backcountry camping pass is only $30.
While some backcountry campers isolate, some live in tiny clusters where everyone knows everyone, and some of them have regular jobs. There is safety in numbers. They’re living off the grid and on the edge, and yet the Federal law enforcement officials, who make regular rounds throughout LBL, know most every one by name through regular daily rounds of each camping area.
Laura is a sweet woman who camps in the backcountry and she’s recently retired. When I first net her in April, she was recovering from the shock of her trailer being stolen—with her dog, Sadie, inside—one day while she was at work. Miraculously, Sadie was recovered a few days later at the animal shelter in Paducah, but her trailer was never found. I haven’t had the nerve to ask her what she’s living in now, though it could be the minivan she drives.
Given her demeanor, you’d never know that Laura lived in the woods or even that she had any bad luck at all because she is always smiling. Whenever she’d stop at the gatehouse to pay for her shower, we’d talk a little, and over the past few months we’ve become friends.
So, this past Sunday morning when she and Sadie came in to take a shower, instead of paying for it with two dollar bills like she usually did, she showed me a card that said it was valid for 25 showers. Every time it was used, it had to be dated and initialed by someone at the gatehouse.
“So, did you save anything by paying for 25 showers upfront?” I asked her.
“No,” Laura answered.
“And you’re not really saving time since you have to stop here at the gatehouse anyway and get the card signed every time,” I added, trying to think of a reason for having it.
“Yeah…” Laura agreed..and smiled mischievously as she went on, “but it saves me from having to use my pole-dancing money.”
She said it so matter-of-factly that for a split second I seriously wondered if she had taken on a little part-time job and I looked up from signing the shower pass, only to realize she was joking!! Laura’s got a great sense of humor.
We both had a good laugh, and then she and Sadie drove off to take a shower. Afterwards, I couldn’t help but marvel at Laura’s spirit. Here she is, living in the woods in her car with her dog and not much else, but HAPPY on this Sunday morning!
I marveled at Laura’s upbeat attitude in spite of her circumstances. Her spirit lifted mine, which was really dragging by that point. I’m grateful for the blessing she gives me every time I see her, especially given some of the people that filter through here. Especially on a holiday weekend!
We have 54 days left before we leave Kentucky, and during that time we have to not only get Felix ready to travel, but our house ready to sell. Our daughter bought a home of her own, so we finally have to get rid of everything we conveniently left behind two years ago when we became full-time RVers again. A huge tag sale is scheduled for the last of this month, so our work is cut out for us.
I could write a book on the difference between how Dave and I go about “cleaning out.” I’m not looking forward to the next few weeks of purging, but it’s got to be done, and it will get done. I’m sure there’ll be stories to tell, because after all, this is just another chapter of my crazy life and the people in it.
Until then💞
Maria☺️
