Good Night John Boy!

Do you remember the show "The Walton's"? I loved that show. I loved all the characters but I had a real crush on John Boy. I can still here the theme song in my mind. It brings up feelings of nostalgia even now bringing a tear to my eye. That was when T.V. was good.

My grandma and grandpa had a cabin on a lake in the Ozarks. In the beginning it was one large room and a screened in porch. Later they built on a bedroom and retired there. But in the early days it was a tiny tiny place. Our entire extended family would converge on that magical red house and spend hours laughing, playing games, eating home made ice cream and fishing off the dock. It is one of my favorite spots in the world. At night there would be people sleeping everywhere and as the lights were turned off someone would start it, "Good Night John Boy". And on and on it would go. Until everyone was wished a good night sometimes twice with lots of snickering.

I loved waking up to the smell of bacon frying and biscuits baking. I can still see Grandma standing at the stove. She has been gone for 24 years ......how I miss her. Then again my mom looks more like her everyday and I realize that she is making the same impact on her Grandchildren that my Grandma made on me. That's cool. I hope that I can do the same. They are big shoes to fill.

Back to the Walton's.......I think my love for writing began with that picture of John Boy sitting over his Big Chief tablet with a pencil writing his thoughts. I look at my lap top and laugh. This makes writing so easy.....gone are the days of hand writing. And yet I have a desire to find a bench or a big tree and a tablet of paper and a pencil and write "old fashion" style. I think that is my goal this summer.........back to basics. Just my thoughts and a piece of paper. I know just the place. A cottage over looking Lake Huron. It is God's way of saying, "It is time, now write".