Haley McLeod

My grandmotther and grandfather keep a lot of boats and trailers on their summer property. They stay in a nice cabin right on the river, and the rest of the family goes down on weekends throughout the summer to have fun boating, fishing, skiing and just walking the sand looking for shells.

This weekend is the last good weather weekend we are likely to have this year. So I am going to drive down and help them winterize the pipes and engines. It’s not hard to do but it sure goes faster and easier when you have an extra pair of hands to help out.

This summer I am determined to find a couple of weekends for a beach trip. I sometimes go to the lake, but it is not the same as going to the ocean.We went to the Lake a couple of weeks ago and it was relaxing but the water is a dirty brown and the flies and mosquitoes are awful.

I miss the sound of the ocean waves, the seagulls swooping down, the smell of tanning lotion, the fresh seafood and roadside stands on the way home to buy cantalopes and corn on the cob.The ocean breeze keeps the bugs away, too.

It used to take 5 hours to get to the closest ocean beach, but traffic keeps getting worse and I hear that it is a 7 hour trip now. That is hard to do for just a weekend – but I am determined. Not this weekend – but soon.

This weekend is going to be a hot summer day on both Saturday and Sunday. Let’s go to the Lake and swim, work on our tans and laugh at all the bad bathing suit choices that parade up and down the sand! LOL

I love the Lake. It always sets my mind at ease and a quick jump in the water cools you down really fast, too.

Today is the 20th year that World AIDS Day is being recognized.

If you have not been tested for HIV, this would be a good day to take care of that. Your health and the health of your sexual partners depends upon you knowing your HIV status. Just because you don’t have any symptoms does not mean that you are OK. Take the test and insist on your partner taking the test, too.

This weekend is crazy with important football games. That is all that guys are talking about now. The football team at the University of Tenneessee can’t seem to win a game for anything and there are a lot of people criticizing Coach Fulmer for these failures. He is a highly paid Coach with a good reputation overall, but the last two years have been a huge disappointment with so many losses and poor performance by the players.

On the other hand, Vanderbilt University has a team that can do no wrong. They have been on a great winning streak and were even features on TV’s ESPN “Game of the Week” on Saturday when they beat Alabama’s Auburn University.

Today the Titans take on Baltimore and have their winning streak on the line. I hope they can end this important game with another win. Our second string quarterback has doen an outstanding job covering the position for our injured Vince Young. I hope Coach Fisher lets Collins continue to play as starting quaterback and makes Vince Young earn his spot back when he wants to reutrn to the field.