First trip at "our beach" (at Berkeley Lake) with the water low

I miss the water at our lake. Many of you probably know the story of our lake - it is built around one of the state's largest earthen damns. The damn was damaged/weakened during the fall when we had days of flooding and rain. The lake was several feet over its fullest and although the damn held back, the pressure that was put on it during the rains took a toll on its structural soundness. It is need of repair, and until money is secured, the lake was merely lowered to a safe level - almost 15 ft down from normal pool. So, where water used to lap our feet at the beach...sand still stretches for many more yards until you reach the water's edge. And, because the sand only now reaches the water's edge, to get wet means you have to get in the sinking mud. It surely isn't as much fun as it usually is, but the boys and I made the best of it. I wish we had taken advantage of the beach more last summer...if we only knew that we would soon be without the wonderful beach. And now the repairs will likely push into the summer of 2013. What's worse - is that this fall the lake will be completely drained for the next 2 years...no water for us next summer - at least not in our "backyard." So for now, we will enjoy what we can. Pictures of us all alone at BL Beach on a HOT summer day. (We would usually be surrounded by people with chairs and coolers and folks grilling or playing volleyball. Hopefully again soon.)


The poles you see in the picture above and below behind Hatcher's head are the poles that used help rope off the "safe area" for swimmers at the beach. The water was almost 12ft deep at those poles.