mind always seems to be going home during the holidays , an this year its seem stronger than ever on the eve of thanksgiving
I woke up a while ago thinking of a story we will call 34.50 for that’s how much it cost my father in 1957. 
I was 7 years old and my father loved boats and had build many during his live time always of plywood with the greatest pride in craftsmanship.Not everyone can build boats, it takes a real craftman
We would trailer my dads boat usual to Norris lake a lake formed by Norris dam an a state park, .
East Tennessee where we go boating and camp over night for the week end, $34.50 was such a week end.
We had gone to a area we called [ point two ] a hour from the dam and found a camp grounds or so we thought for there was a rock fire pit there where someone had camped before.
I have to say we carried lots of equipment with us and even our dog, today as I reminder I wonder how dad was able to get all that stuff in to a-16 foot boat. Believe it or not that boat still remains in my dads brother house stored
in the basement for I was shown it in the year 2000 hard to believe 50 years old .
Any way back to $34.50 We had arriver later afternoon on Fri I believe and set up are tents not much to that as we build a fire in the rock fire pit. We did not know we were being watched from a fire tower by the game wardens as the smoke trailed up thur the dense forest..
The next morning as we cooked breakfast ,[cooking on a Coleman gas stove] a small plane would buss by as the children waved as they made low passes over are camp grounds as I waved the plane rocked his wings as to say we see you
I think by lunch the game wardens would arrive and began a inspection of are ice chest to see if we had been hunting not much there other than bacon and potato salad ,
they subjected that are dog to be a hunting dog [ big laugh ] he only had three legs and one eye, an there was a 22 cal riffle not so much for hunting but instead for protection
looking back some 50 years I would have to say these game warden must have got up on the wrong side of the bed
The out come was if we moved are camp ground a few thousand feet we would be in a approved camping area but not before my father had to go with the game wardens you guessed it and pay a fine $34.50
We stayed the rest of the weekend at the new camp grounds without any more trouble.
Water skiing everyone in the family was a water skier me even at 7.
Dad an his younger brother had even made there own water skis I can reminder how they had build a jig to bent the wood planks and then steamed the wood planks for a few days before installing them on the jig I don’t think today you could buy better water skis
$34.50 today don’t seem like a lot of money , but in 1957 I would think it was a lot, my faimly while not rich I still think of how they must have strugled with two young children
More than fifty years has pasted
sense all this happened ill talk a little about the present, the photo above of the gecko was taken here in cebu as it had fallen from the roof rafters on to my table, he was about 12 inches in lenth as I thought he was dead for 15 mins he never moved , the gecko are small to average sized lizards Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations, making chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos.
Many species are well known for their specialized toe pads that enable them to climb smooth and vertical surfaces, and even cross indoor ceilings with ease
