Looking Back

September 1986 DIXIE TERRY

The new view from my kitchen window is

spectacular. We finally moved in our new home on Lake of Egypt on May 21 and are enjoying the changing panorama in our Garden of Eden. We have a variety of birds and ducks that are constantly flitting in view of our lakeside windows, including woodpeckers, blue jays, robins and a whole list of unknown species. The squirrels and chipmunks, as well as an occasional rabbit, provide entertainment by the hour. The trees, mostly hickory and oak, plus several cedars, a maple, three dogwoods, a red bud and a tulip poplar provide not only shade, but are also nice to look at. Now, before anyone becomes envious, let me point out all is not perfect in this paradise. For instance, the squirrels and chipmunks love to hide their abundance of acorns and hickory nuts from the aforementioned trees in my potted plants on the deck and front porch. Then, they return to dig them up for a midnight snack. So, each morning I reluctantly re-pot my plants. Also the cute little squirrels and chipmunks do not eat a steady diet of nuts. They also like my poinsettia on the front porch, as well as the zinnias, chrysanthemums and coleus in my flower beds. And, that little bunny loves geraniums; my, how he loves geraniums! That beautiful pair of blue jays are constantly bickering and fighting in the tree limbs just over the deck and their noise drowns out all efforts at conversation. My clothesline runs between two hickory trees and I won’t go into detail about what the birds do to the sheets and towels. Although the woodpeckers are gorgeous, with their red, white and black feathers, they are destructive. They not only peck on trees, searching for insects, they also like cedar houses. Our next door neighbor, to the north, just spent several hundred dollars repairing her woodpecked house. Ducks are attractive in the water, but not in the garage where my husband found a couple on moving day. It seems they had used the garage for a bathroom and my husband stepped in the proof. My usually good-natured husband turned into a screaming maniac chasing the ducks down to the lake. What a first impression to make on our neighbors! And, those beautiful tall trees which are at least 200 years old, are constantly dropping dead limbs and leaves. I can hardly wait until fall, when the hickory nuts and acorns start rolling down the roof and plunking in the gutters. Oh yes, the gutters are always clogged with the falling debris. And, then there’s the sloping lot that attracted us to this area. Our lawn mower that did so well on our level lawn in town wouldn’t climb the terrain, so a new, bigger and hopefully better, and also more expensive one, was necessary. Living in the woods also creates an environment that welcomes all kinds of flying and crawling insects, that zoom into the house at every opportunity. Most of them I can’t identify, but anything that crawls or flies is unwelcome. And then, there’s the cobwebs, always lots of cobwebs. Living on the lake is like an open invitation to everyone you ever knew or didn’t know, to drop in to fish, swim or boat ride. Our grown-up children bring their grown-up friends and their friends’ friends and suddenly I am running a resort. Of course we have to feed all these drop-ins, so I have spent my summer, not reading or writing or swimming, but cooking, washing dishes, changing bed clothes and keeping everyone in swimming towels. Dixie’s Bed and Breakfast, plus lunch and dinner, and I don’t even get a tip, except for an occasional “Thanks, Mom!” Speaking of cooking, and it seems I always am, I was the recipient of an old, old cookbook, The Journal of Agriculture Cookbook, given to me by Donald Kelley, my husband’s uncle from Geff. The cookbook was printed in 1894 and was given to my husband’s grandmother, Zula Burklow Kelley, by her husband, Benjamin Franklin Kelley, when they were first married. Thumbing through, I found recipes for Rabbit Crust Pot Pie, Rabbit Stew, Stewed Squirrel with Dumplings, Squirrel Pie, Stewed Duck, and others that might serve two purposes: getting rid of the critters and feeding the crowds. n

Dixie Terry and her late husband lived at Crestwood Estates on the Lake of Egypt from 1986 to 2000. During that time, she kept a journal of her experiences at the lake and a collection newspaper articles. Follow along as Dixie takes you back in time to explore the history of the lake.