How did it feel?
This entry was posted on 1/31/2010 12:44 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
I'm often asked how it felt to drive up to Lake Jocassee for the first time. I watched the last half hour of "Deliverance" yesterday, which, I know, has caused my mind to drift back to this event. Even though I watched them build the dam - and the coffer dam that is at Devil's Fork State Park - the absence of water certainly softened the real blow I would later experience. The first time I went to Lake Jocassee was about 11 years ago, I guess. My husband and I were in the area, so we took the meandering road that once led into the valley to see the lake. I was not prepared for the emotions that I would feel when suddenly the road curved sharply to the right, whereas once it continued straight down the mountain into the valley. We parked the car and looked out over the water. A real sense of sadness enveloped me. At that point, I had to decide if I was going to be bitter about this for the rest of my life, or try to "reconnect" with the Jocassee I loved so much. I chose the latter. My immediate family, for the most part, has never laid eyes on the lake. It's a painful reminder of what once was. My uncle recently put it very aptly. He said, "You know, Jocassee wasn't just a house - or a piece of land. We had a love affair with that place." Finally, someone was able to express in a concise sentence why we loved it so. I was quoted on a CNN piece as saying, "I don't know what it was about Jocassee that just got into our souls . . . but it did."
I remember my first boat ride on the lake. I had a good sense of where our property was in the lake, and we purposely boated across "our" land. I glanced back at the dam, knowing that it spanned the mountains over which Uncle Buck made his final landing approach as we flew into the valley. Sad. Just sad. But I was determined to make peace with our loss, so we boated over to a quiet cove and anchored there for a while. I jumped into the water, fully expecting to feel the sensation of ice cold water, but the water was warm. It felt unnatural. I surfaced (crying a bit) and pleaded for help to get me out quick. "I feel like I just jumped into someone's grave!"
Well, a lot has happened since then. Attakulla Lodge has been located, mostly still intact, and divers have visited her a dozen times. I've learned to scuba dive, and I've met the divers on the way back from the Lodge in order to "hang on the line" with them as they decompress. We always celebrate another successful, safe dive to 300 feet by having a picnic on the boat: homemade fried chicken, sandwiches, brownies, trail mix. Fried chicken was the house special at Attakulla Lodge, and I tell the divers that you're not going to vist MY house and not get fried chicken! It's not just a dive - it's an event!
We are hoping for a good diving season this year, as many things affect the dive. The visibility at 300 feet is affected by so many things (recent rains, temperature, even whether or not they are generating electricity at Bad Creek). This year we are hoping for some near-perfect conditions, so we can finally get that picture that everyone is waiting to see: a panoramic picture of the Lodge in her present condition. Here's hoping! She was discovered on August 4, 2004, with the first dive by Jackie Smith and Charles Johnson on August 7, 2004. This was the dive in which they brought me what I refer to as my "Jocassee treasure" - the sidelight from the front door. I've recorded the whole story in a revision to my book.
Please check back, and I'll keep you posted! Dive season may begin around July. Here's hoping!!
