News From Lake Waccamaw

(With a nod to Garrison Keillor’s ​Lake Wobegon)

Well it was quiet day in Lake Waccamaw... my hometown (at least for three weeks) out here on the edge of the swamp...

Like yesterday, we are back at the Lake House and it looks the same today as it did yesterday.  I guess we are supposed to change that.  And change we did.  The kitchen, once a dingy yellow color, is now painted ​Silver Mist​.  This name must have come from a fourth grade naming contest at the annual Fall Festival, where contestants would suggest the least descriptive name for a color.  Grand prize: a lollipop from the concession stand.  The actual color looks more of an olive drab.  The women, upon seeing this color in the bucket, commented that they would expect to see this color on a battleship.

Nevertheless, we volunteers do what we are told and we dutifully applied battleship paint to the kitchen.  Once it dried, however it appeared a bit less military and Deb commented that it looks “calming”.  High praise for a battleship.  But Silver or Mist it is not.

Lake Waccamaw appears to have two major businesses: the tobacco factory and the Boys and Girls Home.  Aside from a small residential area, there is not much else.  Dale’s Seafood is a destination for one of our meals here, it comes recommended by several people.  Just up Flemington Drive from Dale’s is the Lake Waccamaw Depot Museum, Fire Station Number 9, City Hall, and the public library.  Deb went to the public library a couple days ago to check out the used book sale.  The librarian did not display the usual Southern hospitality but dourly pointed down the hall when asked about the used book sale.  The lights in the hallway were off and Deb had to look at the books in the light of a window.

The Fire Station appears to be the local hangout.  Every time we go past, all the doors are open, several vehicles are parked in the lot, and people are usually lounging around, sometimes with one of the fire trucks pulled out of its bay.  It’s kind of a thing we’ve noticed in these parts.  The volunteer fire department is usually the local hangout.

The women spent part of the day in 309, prepping the house for painting.  309 is two houses down Flemington Street from the library and is part of the Boys and Girls Home.  I’m beginning to think the Boys and Girls Home owns half the county

Well that’s the news from Lake Waccamaw, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average.