Percy Priest Lake Memory

It was Saturday morning in 1967, I was a child, maybe about eight years old. My mom told me that it was going to be an exciting day. We were going to where they were building the new lake and we would be driving under the water where the lake would be. Boy did that excite me! I couldn't wait to get in our yellow 1965 Mustang and drive underwater, yes underwater. It would be just like the song " The Yellow Submarine". Well, not really, because that song wasn't released until 1969. A better visual is like the book "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". I dreamed of seeing huge bass swimming around and monster size turtles the size of Volkswagens paddling near, even better, ancient looking paddle fish with their long snout. My third grade buddies were going to be so impressed.

My dreaming came to an end as we loaded up the car and head toward the lake. The lake was to be named J. Percy Priest after a Tennessee Congressman. We didn't go near the dam for some reason. We headed to the back side of the dam were the deep water was. As we neared the lake, you could see some construction going on, mainly bulldozers with trees being pushed down. I remember seeing lots of open fields, but no water.

Finally, after an hour, I asked "when will we be going under the water?" My mom busted out laughing, she said "we aren't actually going under the water silly, we are going where the water will be in a few months, not under the water." I suddenly realized that I would see no huge bass swimming around or monster size turtles the size of a Volkswagen Beetle paddling near or ancient looking paddle fish with their long snout. It was a great misunderstanding and my third grade buddies where not going to be impressed. I was sad.   

Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com. I paint beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. Ain't she pretty! She's all dressed up in a beautiful frame and ready to go to that "lake house warming party". you will be so proud when you walk in with the prettiest gift at the party..........LeoLakes.com

Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. Also, you can personalize your lake map with a star where your lake house is located.  I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. Order soon to avoid the rush!

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.  Orders pick-up during the holiday's, so order soon. Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

"Hanging a Leo Lakes Treasured Map in a lake house, is like christening a boat with a bottle of champagne!" 

Beautiful Lake maps for the lake house

Folks love their lakes! Here's the proof. Believe it or not, I have a lot of customers that send me photos of their maps hanging in their lake or beach house. I have added a few to my blog. 

They are beautiful! Hey, paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com for a beautiful lake, river, or bay map by me. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.  Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

Growing up in the South......

When I was growing up in the south, it was traditional for a father to give his son a pen knife at a young age. The age varied, but somewhere between 9-12 years old. My dad was not unlike other southern fathers and at the age of 9 years old, my dad gave me a beautiful, pen knife with bone sides and was about 2.5" long. He said it would be useful for outdoor stuff such as fishing and was not a toy. He showed me how to use it. I was so proud that he gave me the pen knife, for about three days.

A few days later, I went down to my best friend's house, Rusty. I showed him my new shiny knife and he was amazed. Not to be out done, Rusty brought out his new, gray, plastic, jet airplanes. There was  three of those beautiful jet planes. Ooh, I lit up when I saw these wonderful toys. He suggested that we do a trade. His three jet airplanes for my pen knife. Immediately, I could see myself flying those planes around and they would go great with my little, green, plastic, army men. Sooo, I said lets trade.

I headed home with two planes in my pocket , one plane in my hand, and a big smile on my face. I started flying it up and down with the sound of a jet engine, vroom...... As I entered our yard, my dad was lounging in an aluminum, fold-up lawn chair. He saw me with my new toys. I heard him say, "son come here". As soon as I heard that, I knew that the trade was not a good idea. As I approached him, he said "where did you get those toy planes". At that instant, I realized that I was in big trouble. My little mind raced to come up with an answer. I had two choices, I could say that I traded the knife for them, which would have been true, but a huge disappointed to my dad and likely result in a spanking. The other option was to say that I found them, which he would not believe, but hopefully would not be disappointed, however I would get a spanking because he would think that I stole them. I knew that I had no good choice. So, I didn't do any of those choices, I remained silent, so silent, which was still a bad decision. He accused me of stealing the planes and gave me a big spanking. Then, he took the planes and tossed them in the trash. About that time, my mom yelled out the door and said............."Pie is ready"!

 So, it was a total loss, I received a spanking, the knife was gone, the planes are trashed, and my dad is angry at me. What did I learn? I learned that sometimes in life, you will end up in a "rock and a hard place", meaning there's no good choices, but pie makes things better.................  

Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com. I paint beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.   Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

Just remember: "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream".

Thinking about purchasing a travel trailer?

I've been thinking about purchasing a travel trailer to roam around the country and to visit more lakes. My current vehicle does not have the tow capacity to tow a nice size travel trailer. In fact, back in December of last year I bought a new vehicle that would fit the bill. I evaluated whether to purchase a pick-up truck or a full size SUV. I finally settled on a full size SUV because it is a bit smaller than a pick-up truck and easier for my wife to drive. Now, which SUV should I buy? For some reason, I was drawn to the Nissan Armada. It was like a moth to a flame, sort of.  Anyway, I purchased the Armada and love it.

After having it for a few months, I started wondering why I was drawn to it so strongly?  Was it because this vehicle met my needs and looked nice or was something else pushing me toward this SUV? Then I realized something, my new Armada reminded me of my father's old fishing vehicle, an old beloved 1957 Chevrolet Station Wagon. Little did I know, but I was really looking for a comfort vehicle. 

See it? Doesn't the 1957 look a little like the 2017 Armada? Now remember that the difference between these two vehicles are 60 years apart, but you can still see some similarities. Here's what I mean.   

It's red, it's wagon like, it has lots of chrome, both have a seven in the date, it has a fin, yes a fin...... See it now, sort of? This proves it to me, deep down I wanted a comfort vehicle. What is a comfort vehicle? I define just like comfort food, its any vehicle that provides consolation or a feeling of well being, typically any vehicle associated with fond feeling during childhood. No doubt about it, I had strong feelings for the 1957 Chevy and I guess this new vehicle called them up. They say, as you get older, you go back to your childhood, looks like I have.  Oh yeah, my daughter named the Armada. We call it "Abe" because the color so close to a new shiny penny.

Oh Yeah, I paint beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.   Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

Just remember: "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream".

My special lure.....

When I was a young fisherman about 9 or 10 years old, I had a lucky lure that bordered on magic. When nothing was biting, it was my go to lure because it would always produce a fish, not necessarily a big fish or a prized fish, but a fish every time. This made a kid feel good and feel like a wizard fisherman.

You just don't know how lucky this lure is. Think about this, most kids end up losing their lures to trees, underwater logs or rocks, but not this lure. I still have this lure after 50 years. Do you still have a lure after 50 years? Now that's a special lure! In fact, it's such a lucky lure that I had to paint it in one of my fishing art pictures. 

Little did I realized it when I painted this picture, but I painted it as being lost, as shown by it being all tangled up on a stick. I guess the humor in my painting is the loss of my "special lure", which is not really lost, but is now my most beloved, "lucky lure". 

Oh yeah, I do beautiful canvas lake maps of beloved lake LeoLakes.com. I've been doing lake, river and bay maps for approximately seven years.Over the years, I have experimented with different elements of map art in order to provide the best and most unique map on the market. Most folks add a star to a special place on the lake such as a lake house or where they caught that big fish.  

Folks will be drawn to the map like a crackling fire on a cold winter night.  I try very hard to make my maps special by adding interest to the maps. LeoLakes.com

Also, each framed map or map over 16x32, comes with a certificate of authenticity, lake poem, and interesting facts abut the map. 

I have hundreds of maps on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalized vintage style lake maps, too. Lake maps will add beauty to your Lake House Decor! Find out more interesting facts about my treasured maps by going to LeoLakes.com. 

My mostly new fishing cartoons......

My new fishing cartoons. I try to be original and funny, but it doesn't always work. I hope you enjoy and remember, "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!"  

Something else, I do beautiful lake maps. Paddle on over to my website to see some great maps of your favorite lake, river, or bay...LeoLakes.com makes great gifts for the Lake Lover, Lake House, or Fishermen.

Camping in the sixties

Have you seen those cool looking 1960's vintage-style travel trailers

traveling down the highways? 

I have! They bring back memories for me. I remember in the 60's, when I was about 8 or 9 years old, my dad decided to purchase a travel trailer. One weekend, we ended up at Bob's Trailers. Bob sold trailers from a little white block building surrounded by a gravel lot that was loaded with 12 to 16 ft recreational trailers. We looked around and found a 13 ft trailer that was called "The Plaything", yep "The Plaything".

It was white with a blue strip down the side and had all the typical accessories  such as, dining table, three fold up beds, sink, stove and closet. It's weird, but I remember my dad paying Bob $350.00 cash. Luckily, they delivered, because my dad didn't have a trailer hitch on our car.

The camper, as we called it, arrived home and it was beautiful. We couldn't wait to get this baby on the road, but first my dad had to get a hitch on our 1965 Mustang. After two weeks, the yellow Mustang was ready, the camper was loaded and we headed to a state park called "Cedars of Lebanon", about 45 miles away. We started on our way and I noticed that you could feel the weight of the camper on the back of the mustang. It would struggle up a hill. When braking, it would slowly come to a stop, kind of like a one-hundred car freight train coming to a stop, slooooowly. It was obvious, anticipation was the key to safety. Just wondering, do you see a problem here?  Not me, I'm a kid and it's not my job to worry about such things. My thoughts were on my new knife that had a spoon and fork with some kind of curly screw thing on it. I couldn't wait to try it on my dinner..... 

Everything was going great and I was looking forward to sleeping in an actual bed tonight, rather than on a blow-up mattress in a canvas tent that smelled like burnt candle. No I wasn't, again I'm a kid and I was looking forward to an adventure at the campsite with my new spoon and fork knife.

Anyway, we were about at the halfway point and all of a sudden, My dad said the car is overheating. I could see little wisps of white steam coming from the front of the Mustang. Luckily, there was a pull-over spot on the side of the road. You know, the old 1960s roadside rest areas that had the white, concrete picnic tables and no bathroom or water fountain. We pulled over, while steam was rolling out of the engine compartment. 

He said " Well, I knew this could happen. We will just have to wait and let it cool down". Fortunately, there was a creek near by where we got water and filled the radiator up after it had cooled. After a while, we started on our way. My dad was very nervous for the remaining part of the trip, but we made it! Man, I had fun camping for the first time in the camper, but mostly I loved using my spoon and fork knife to eat each meal. Going back home was uneventful. You know why? It was mostly downhill, but braking was a little nightmarish.   

Looking back, I have come to the conclusion that we could have died. Yeap, in a massive wreck by not yielding the right-of-way. I've done a little research and determined that it was totally unsafe for a 1965 Mustang to tow a 13 ft camper. The best that I can find from my internet research, a 1965 Mustang is rated at around 1,500 lbs. tow capacity.  The camper was approximately 2,500 lbs and had no trailer brakes, plus we had 500-600 lbs of baggage. It's likely that the Mustang was towing over 3,000 lbs. Bottom line, the Mustang was well over the it's towing capacity and was unsafe to drive with this trailer attached, but man it was fun! In fact, we went on many other trips with the "Mustang and The Plaything". This is how the 60's almost killed me. 

Oh yeah, as I got older, I finally figured out what that curly screw thing was on my spoon and fork knife, corkscrew! Lastly, my dad finally got tired of the mustang and bought a 1972 Ford F-150. Believe it or not, the mustang remained parked in the driveway for a number of years, leaking oil, transmission fluid, rear differential fluid.....etc.  

Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com. I paint beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.   Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

Just remember: "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream".

Chipmunks love to eat wasp, here's the proof!

Amazing!!!! A few years ago, I was lucky enough to see a Chipmunk from our front window. I always have my Nikon handy for photographing wildlife because we live on ten acres and many animals come near. I grabbed the camera and quietly headed out of the front door in hopes of getting a few photos of Mr. Chipmunk doing Chipmunk stuff. Little did I know that I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to experience an unusual event and likely one that only a very few have photographed. To begin with, here is Mr. Chipmunk thinking he is sneaking across the walk to enter our planter where there’s moist mulch, flowers and seeds, but I was there with my camera.

Lucky for me, Mr. Chipmunk was oblivious to my presence and I was able to photograph his every move. He seemed to be on a mission and I wasn't clear on what he was up to.

Anyway, I noticed that Mr. Chipmunk kept looking up the brick wall and I wasn't quite sure why, but I did noticed a wasp nest in the corner above the garden hose. It was about 8 ft above the ground and it appeared that was the target of the chipmunks attention as you can see below.

If you look closely, on the right of the nest, you can see a wasp guarding the nest.

Believe it or not this little Chipmunk may have saved me from a trip to the hospital. You see, I am allergic to bee stings. Actually I’m 1 in 1000; that’s how many people are allergic to bee stings. If I’m stung, 2 Benadryl pills and a trip to the hospital parking lot to sit. I wait until the symptoms disappear; if not, a trip inside for an adrenalin shot. Almost always, Benadryl does the trick for me. If anyone around you gets stung, watch them for any sign of hives, swelling and difficulty breathing. Get immediate medical attention if you suspect someone is having a reaction.  You can become allergic at any time. I wasn't allergic until I was in my early twenties, just be aware. Now back to my story.

In a flash, Mr. Chipmunk quickly climbed straight up the brick wall and to the nest. The Chipmunk plowed right into the nest, head first and the wasp didn’t have time to react. In fact, so fast I wasn’t able to capture a picture until the Chipmunk started back down. As you can see, Mr. Chipmunk has a wasp in his mouth. It became a quick snack as he headed down and afterwards there was a lot of chatter which either suggests it was delicious or ouch that hurt. Check-out that curled tail. 

It was pretty amazing, I learned that Chipmunks are experienced wasp tracker and realized that I would have made a terrible Chipmunk because that would have killed me (bee sting). 

I did a little research on chipmunks after this happened and found that chipmunks love wasp and will attack the nest. I felt lucky to have seen this unique event in nature.  

Hey, guess what I do! I do beautiful lake maps and they've actually been on TV. You see, Folks are drawn to the my maps like a crackling fire on a cold winter night.  I try very hard to make my maps special by adding interest to the maps.

You will find no road names, county, or state lines on my maps. I have found that folks enjoy traveling the roads with their eyes, while trying to get their bearing. I call this the "Leo Lakes gaze." 
You can add a star or symbol with a few words to mark that special place, it maybe the location of the lake house, the spot where you caught that trophy fish or some grand view. This will make a very special gift for the lake lover. I hide a few fish and even a tiny mermaid in the waters of my lakes. Yep, but they're very shy and don't want to be found. Folks just love'm, especially the kids. You might even think they move around overtime.

Did you know that you can always tell if its morning or evening on a Leo Lakes map? Just look at the shadows cast by the wildlife, is the shadow on the east or west? If it's on the west, then it’s morning time. Oh yeah, I have had folks tell me that they change through the day, but don't believe them.

Also, each framed map or map over 16x32, comes with a certificate of authenticity, lake poem, and interesting facts abut the map.

I have hundreds of maps on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalizes vintage style lake maps, too. I have maps, such as Lake Bob Sandlin Vintage Style map, Lake Logan Martin Vintage Style Map, Center Hill Lake vintage style map, Lake Texoma vintage style map, Gaston Lake, Choctawhatchee Bay vintage style map, Toledo Bend Lake Vintage style map, Raystown Lake vintage style map. Lake maps will add beauty to your Lake House Decor! Find out more interesting facts about my treasured maps by going to LeoLakes.com.