JD Lee, Woodsman Of The World

I have had hard copies of the following two images in my possession for nearly as long as I can remember.

That is thejeepjunkie, the olelongrooffan and thehorsefarmer standing in front of my Great Grandfather's tombstone, some 40 years ago. He and I share the same name. I have always thought it was cool. When we were there, we swiped the concrete footstone with the letters 'JDL' etched in the top of that tree looking piece of concrete. It ended up out at sister 6's house so I am confident it will never be seen again.

TheGentlemanFarmer also took an old school Polaroid of us by this big *ssed anchor and chain along the banks of the Big Muddy inside the Columbus-Belmont State Park over in extreme Southwest Kentucky.

Listed on the rear of these two ole black and white photos are merely the boys names and July, 1969. I have been trying to find out the location for quite some time, even asking the sister who had done a Lee family geneology report years ago. Well, that report is packed away gathering dust and she hasn't dug it out for me yet.

Ironically, when I was On The Road, By The Numbers last summer, I was probably less than 100 miles from this place. Bummer.

So, you ask yourself, how did I come up with that juicy bit of information I had long been pursuing?

Well, last night after an abbreviated fishing trip,

Yeah I know it is an old image but that was the last time I went fishing with them that they caught anything!!

Anyway, we got into the Kid's ole CJ and headed over to the Taj Mahal. As usual, thejeepjunkie commandeers my laptop while the Kid, much to the chagrin of thejeepjunkie, looks for something to eat. I don't mind and he is a strapping big kid, and at 16, possesses a hollow leg.

Anyway, last summer as I was sorting through my hard copy photos in order to return them to the Bus for distribution to my siblings. I came across a bunch of oldschool photos, most taken by TheGentlemanFarmer, and the other day, I found them again. Yeah, how can you lose something in a two room condo? Well I can and did. I then set them on a stand next to my cozy armchair in anticipation of what to do with them.

As thejeepjunkie surfed, I nuked some shrimp and pasta for the Kid and he was sorting through these photos. He came to the one with JD Lee's tombstone on it and enquired as to what it was. I told him and that I had been trying to find its location for some time. He told thejeepjunkie to give him my laptop and in eight minutes flat had that park located and even found a couple images a total stranger had taken of it and posted!!

Here is a link to them.

I was thrilled, and still am!!

Well, I sent this link to my brothers and thehorsefarmer called me

today, not knowing I had those pictures, and informed me of their existence. When I told him that I had them in my possession, he breathed a huge sigh of relief as he thought they might have gone the way of that footstone, the bell and the rake.

I mentioned to him that I was heading to the beach to spend some time with thejeepjunkie and family and that I would post them on this blog sometime later today.

So here they are. Quite a rig thejeepjunkie and the Kid have there, isn't it? I mean double decker surfboards and a platform out back. I am disappointed in myself for not getting an image of the basecamp, though.

Anyway, since I was scanning old school photos, I thought I would scan a few more and post them for, hopefully, your enjoyment.

This is a picture of my Mom standing next to TheGentleman Farmer's last sports car, a Fiat 124. After he passed, the Bus ebayed this to some guy up in Washington state. In an effort to emulate this olelongrooffan, the dude flew in and drove it home.

And see this picture? That is the main reason I live so far from the Bus and thehorsefarmer.

This is a shot of TheGentlemanFarmer sitting in an old, at least now, MG Midget. The writing on the back this photo identifies the driver as Fr. David Fly, although I don't remember him.

This is a shot of Maurica Raby's VW Convertible. Yes, those are Celebrate Life stickers all over it. Sisters 9 and Joan are in the background while thejeepjunkie and the longrooffan are hooning around further back.

I can also identify LeRoy Lane's XKE and the old blue Country Squire longroof we used to ride around in. I can't make out the one behind that cool ole XKE though. And that is a Wolfsburg Castle emblem on the hood of that oleragtop.

The following is a shot of my Mom's sister, Evie. I am pretty sure TheGentleManFarmer took this when visiting her one time out in Californey. the Kid thought this was a Saab but I corrected him. It is an orphan. A mid 80's Oldsmobile Calais.

And the aforementioned LeRoy Lane leaning against the crosswalk signal in front of St. Agnes Elementary School, my alma mater. That is BBB's wedding Chevelle. And check out that old Thunderbird parked across Jefferson Street.
And here is that shaving creme draped car parked out back of the Cathedral. "Hers Today, His Tonite". Click on the image and check out that old license plate. Back before stickers and you got a new one every year.

And, finally, much like the photo album I got from Mom's estate that was full of pictures of landscape and not one person in the whole album, I, for the life of me, cannot figure out the significance of this off center shot of an old International tractor trailer.

And it is not living in a part of the country which gets three feet of snow, coming across these old photos and finding out the location of that JD Lee headstone that allows me to

Celebrate Life.