Ozark Vacation: Lake Norfork and Uncle Cran's Farm

From my lovely wife, I learned that in contrast to that rainy moment at Lake Norfork a couple of weeks ago . . .


. . . my children recently spent a sunnier day with Uncle Cran and Aunt Gay at that lake. Uncle Cran also sent an email to remind me:

In a previous email, I suggested that the day would come when you would say, "Uncle Cran, go jump in the lake!" Your enthusiastic response was that when time came, you would do do. The time has come, and passed, without your encouragement.

I said that I would "do do"?! I don't recall that! I can only encourage in ways that I am aware of, and I fail to see how my do-do would be in any way an encouragement to anybody. Nevertheless, I will post the photographs of the lake and farm:

Yesterday, at 10:00 am, Gay and I drove to nephew John's and picked Sa-Rah and En-Uk. Sun-Ae said she was behind in her translation work, so she stayed and worked on her assignments.

We motored west on highway 62, across Lake Norfolk over the Veda Sheid Memorial Bridge, to Highway 101, then east across the other twin bridge to Bidwell Point. Actually this is the place we had gone to before, but were rained out, and only Sa-Rah was brave enough to get in the water during a pouring rain. Here we are at the entrance.

Without Sun-Ae? Without the professional photographer? Okay . . . well, let's see the happy campers:


Eh? Uncle Cran, you've cut the children out of the photo! Even when I click on the image for a close-up, all I see is a sign . . . fronted by a 'mailbox'? Wait a minute:


Okay, there they are . . . and also again:


And yet again:


Exciting. Try not to overdo the thrills, sir. Of these photos, Uncle Cran adds:

On a previous blog, in one of my senior moments, I had reported we went to the Henderson Park Area, but this time I will correct that error.

Thank you, Uncle Cran. Readers take note: Earlier images of the lake on that rainy day were of Bidwell Point, not the famous Henderson Bay. Meanwhile:

With the 62/412 bridge in the background, our intrepid swimmers fortify themselves with the picnic food prepared by Aunt Gay. Notice the eager anticipation registered of the faces of your brave children, awaiting their moment of food, then fun.

Eh? What's this about "the 62/412 bridge"? Good Lord! What sort of a bridge would be left only one-seventh constructed? Thank God you made it safely across! As for the photo, Uncle Cran, I'm sorry, but this appears to be 'posed':


But in this action shot, they appear to be preparing to stuff their faces . . . or are already doing so:


I see that En-Uk is again dressed with somewhat inappropriate modesty in his burqini, while the less modest Sa-Rah adopts a hijab. Remember to wait half an hour before going into the water! Now come various preparations, such as lathering on the sun cream under Uncle Cran's watchful eye:


I think that Aunt Gay's fingerprints were all over that photo. Anyway, next comes Uncle Cran's threat of dangerous activities:

En-Uk is ready, with ball in hand, to brave the perils of Lake Norfork, in spite of dangerous crawdads (crayfish), man eating catfish, and Uncle Cran, and his favorite weapon (the said ball), soon to be used in the game, "Kill the Kid." No one was actually killed, but Sa-Rah, En-Uk, and I spent several hours throwing it at one another.

I appreciate the confession, Uncle Cran. Here's the photo a ready En-Uk:


En-Uk and Sa-Rah now rush headlong for the lake:


Uncle Cran emphasizes:

En-Uk and Sa-Rah are in the lake, hopefully having fun.

Yes, hopefully:


From an obscure distance, we hope for the best. More reporting by Uncle Cran:

Aunt Gay and En-Uk are diligently searching for mussel shells, as Sa-Rah engages in her favorite pastime, floating on the surf board, and dreaming youthful dreams.

Uncle Cran is undoubtedly projecting his own idle youth onto my daughter, but let us take a look:


Sa-Rah is obviously swimming vigorously! So much for Uncle Cran's 'idle' report. But enervation soon overtakes them. En-Uk grows weary of the hunt for shells:

As the kids continue their thrilling adventures, Aunt Gay takes the mussels and stores them for the mighty hunter.

Once more, we have a photo . . . of Aunt Gay leaving with the shells as En-Uk heads out toward Sa-Rah:


Well done, weary En-Uk, who nevertheless keeps swimming. But not only En-Uk is weary, for Sa-Rah is as well -- and she takes a well-deserved break:

Aunt Gay and Sa-Rah prepare for an afternoon break, before returning to the water.

So they say, and we will see. Here's Sa-Rah's break with Aunt Gay:


Rather far afield. But they do return to the water, where Uncle Cran joins the fun . . . and objectifies himself in the retelling:

We swam, and played in the water from 11:00 am until 3:30 pm. During that time, Uncle Cran was in the water, yelling and splashing, dunking Sa-Rah and En-Uk, while Aunt Gay relaxed in the water. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died, and we couldn't take any more photos. Perhaps Sun-Ae's camera recorded more action, and she may send them to you later.

Yes, Sun-Ae's camera rescued an image of Uncle Cran:


Fully clothed . . . sopping wet. But eventually, the fun lake activities have to end:

After our full day of fun at the lake, we returned to Uncle Cran's and Aunt Gay's home. As before, Sa-Rah demonstrated her talent with the guitar.

As we see:


Good to see Sa-Rah practicing under adverse conditions . . . I refer to Uncle Cran's guitar. Next, a report on Aunt Gay:

Aunt Gay prepares the fish that En-Uk had caught from his previous visit. She had frozen them, for the day that the kids returned for a visit.

What? No mussel shellfish stew? Anyway, it looks good:


The early meal is not shown, but eventually, everything devolves to Wii anyway:

Meanwhile, En-Uk and Sa-Rah engaged in a tension filled game of Wii. Look at the intense concentration expressed in their faces.

As we again see:


They do seem intently focused. I wish that they'd apply that focus to their studies. Anyway, next comes Sarah's turn:

Sa-Rah is tossing another strike in the bowling tournament, while En-Uk is secretly saying, "Please miss!"

If it's a secret, Uncle Cran, how do you know? Still . . . here's the photo:


Strike two? But who's counting? Perhaps Uncle Cran:

Meanwhile, after suffering succesive defeats at the hands of Sa-Rah and Uncle Cran, En-Uk found a worthy opponent in Aunt Gay, but he prevailed with a hard won victory.

En-Uk, champion of the world, showing hs winning technique even as Aunt Gay bowls:


En-Uk and his tag-team hound-dog appear to be interfering, so I take it that this is his famed 'winning technique'. But no matter, for other fun activities beckon:

The day would not be complete without a drive around the field on the ATV.

That would, of course, be Sa-Rah:


Wait -- also in on the fun is En-Uk:

Not to be outdone by big sister Sa-Rah, En-Uk prepares to drive around the field, with Uncle Cran riding on the back and pouring out a bag of range cubes for the cattle.

More of those 'breeder' cubes, I'd wager. Be that as it may, here's the fearless En-Uk:


And those seem to be all the images from Yasgur's Farm . . . uh, Uncle Cran's Farm. Thus ends the photographic saga of our day at the lake and our home. Now for some final words from Uncle Cran:

Regretfully, all good things must come to an end. At 5:30 pm we all loaded up in the car for the return trip to John and Sandy's home. On the way, En-Uk regaled Aunt Gay with a non-stop account of everything he could think of to say, while Sa-Rah rode in the front seat, quietly speaking to Uncle Cran of her coming trip to Branson with Uncle Shannon [and Uncle Pat] and her return to her friends in Korea. We arrived in Salem shortly before 6:30 pm, said our goodbyes. Sa-Rah said, "See you next year," and Gay and I returned to our home. You might ask, "Where was Uncle Cran?" Well, he was dutifully performing his duty, and manfully manning the camera [even when he appears in the photo?]. As my cousin Martha's husband, Bob Foster, would say about his fishing trips, "It's a hard, dirty, thankless job, but somebody has to do it."

Yes, somebody does, and in all honesty and gratitude, thank you, Uncle Cran and Aunt Gay for taking care of my children and showing them the beautiful lake.