What do YOU see?
This entry was posted on 6/12/2011 1:29 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
I just read a
well-written article about Jocassee, in which someone
is quoted as saying, “Jocassee is nowhere. Jocassee is gone.” There was a time
I would have agreed with this. . . until we found Attakulla Lodge and Camp
Jocassee for Girls, guarded and preserved by the dark depths of Lake Jocassee..
The valley may be gone, certainly unseen by most, but as long as we have divers
who brave the deep and bring back left-behind reels and sidelights and tales of
a river that still runs deep and keeps the rocks swept of silt, as long as
grown up little girls still reminisce about shaving their legs in an icy river
and marching 7 miles up the mountain to Salem, as long as there is an underwater buoy to
touch for 10 seconds until your lungs feel as if they will burst, as long as we
keep her alive in our tales and our tears . . . we'll always have Jocassee, at
least in our dreams and our hearts where Jocassee is never gone. I call my
beloved Attakulla Lodge “she,” much like a sunken ship. She lies in 300 feet of
water, on her side. I like to think that if the Lodge were a person, she’d be
delighted to welcome us back - overjoyed that we went to all this trouble. She
knows we are dining on fried chicken (the house specialty) on the boat some 300
feet above. She feels the kiss of the little girl, now a grandmother, who
unties the boat that has been anchored to the Lodge, kisses the rope, and drops
it in the water as she says, “See ya next time, old girl.” She doesn’t feel
forgotten. She’s a little worse for the wear after 40 years of submersion in
deep, dark, cold water. Oh, but she’s not forgotten. The Lodge and the
beautiful lands of Jocassee are still there, but just like the wrinkles on the
face of a 100-year-old woman, you can look past her facade, look into her eyes
and still see her soul. She’s not gone, just different.
So, you see, Jocassee isn’t “nowhere.” You just
have to look harder to see her."
