The dawn of a new lake season arrives with an official kick-off around spring break each year. The fact that many schools start spring vacations annually at the end of March means the lake gets busy well before summer.  Those of us who live on Smith Lake full time have the good fortune to be able to enjoy a very calm and serene lake during the many months off-season, but the inevitable long on-season period often lasts from late March well into October, sometimes later depending on weather in a given year.  There are years when our family can remember waterskiing, kayaking or paddleboarding into early December, but it's not every year that happens.  

Early spring is a good time for all of us to reflect on how we’ll react to the rush of more people, boats and activity overall.  The words we cherish most are TOLERANCE and RESPECT.  Every single one of us has a different way that we experience lake life.  But that is not to say that we cannot appreciate the ways that others enjoy their lake experience in their short summer season of primarily late May through early August.  Everyone is doing their own thing, in their own way, and it’s all good.  We like to think that collectively, we simply make a silent pact as a community to stay drama free and tolerant of one another.  Having respect for others is the key to making sure we can keep that pact intact.
 
It’s simple, and listed below are just a few ways to exhibit respect showing basic good boating etiquette, and therefore earning tolerance from others as we all enjoy lake days in our individual ways.

​Don’t be “that guy” - get your good boating etiquette hat ON well ahead of season!

Again, these are all just some favorite community ideas collected from our surveys in the Smith Lake Community Facebook group about how to have a wonderful time on Smith Lake while being conscious of community etiquette.  

Written by The Lakeside LIfe Team
Photography by Terry Turner

Updated:  5/16/24
​Original Article Date:  3/1/19

McFee's Wodshop is the creation of Bryan and Carol McFee in Crane Hill, AL. They are both wood turners.  Carol is a "spindle" turner.  She makes bud vases, handles for bottle openers, ice cream scoops, pizza cutters, back scratchers, and similar items. The vases are all sizes, and we recently did a giveaway for a matched pair that were hard to let go.  They were small, dainty and so beautifully detailed.  We fell in love.  Bryan primarily turns bowls.  GORGEOUS bowls with veins of surprising colors in the wood grain, each one unique and precariously turned and polished to perfection.  He also makes coffee tables and end tables.  He takes special orders if it is something that he feels he can "do justice to."

They use only local hardwoods that they harvest themselves. Most of the trees that they use are dead, dying, or already on the ground. Occasionally they will remove a tree when asked to.  As the trees die, decay sets in.  In wood turner parlance this is called spalting.  It creates the beautiful colors and lines that are so prominent in their work. Bryan jokes "We throw the wood out in the front yard until it starts to grow mushrooms, then we know that the wood is ready!" This does sometimes create problems if the decay goes too far.  Then it gets "punky". This means that it is too rotten to work with.  It is always a fine line between "just right" and "too far gone."  

​They love for people to drop by and visit them in their shop.  In true southern fashion, they have a lot of extra chairs for company.  They are a beautiful couple, you will love every second of time you get with them.  Check them out on Facebook today:  @McFees Woodshop and you may contact Bryan by email:  [email protected] or phone:  205-541-0658.  

As seen in our October issue, here is the recipe for a favorite Fall dip!
​

• 8 oz of cream cheese
• 16 oz bar of cheese
• 1 lb of chorizo
• 1/4 cup of 2% milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
• 1 can of mexicorn
• 2 cans of rotel
• scoops or crusty bread for dipping 

​Steps:
1. Cut cheese into small cubes and set aside. 
2. Remove chorizo from casing and brown in a skillet. Drain well. 
3. Reduce to medium heat, adding cheeses, milk, and garlic salt.
5. Cook and stir 8-10 minutes or until well blended. 
4. Drain corn and rotel, adding both to the mixture. 
5. Cook 5 minutes and serve from skillet. 
​6. Enjoy! 

Recently on social media, the team shared memories on beautiful Smith Lake.  This week, founder, Syndi Hanna, shared a favorite memory on Smith:

"After 20+ years on the lake, there are too many great memories, and it is impossibly hard to narrow them down to only one.  But... a particular very late summer stands out.

In 2007, we had been given the opportunity to spend some long days on a large ranch connected to the lake and owned by friends of ours.  My son, Tylar, was 2 years old at the time, and always wanted to ride around with me on a Ranger while his daddy was working at the property building installing a home theater system for our friend and customer.  One special weekend, the property was particularly quiet and picturesque - a time when it's hard to tell what season it is.  I recall it was late in boating season, summer still lingered, the sun was bright; and there was still lush greenery all around, with only tiny hints of autumn arriving soon with slightly cooler nights.  In the horse fields on the ranch, there were these millions of tiny weeds with yellow flowers everywhere, it seemed there was a blanket of them as far as the eye could see.  

Tylar enjoyed the abundant flowers, butterflies, warm sun, and endless blue sky, with the lake constantly glistening through a spot at the bottom of the property below us.  It was shining like a diamond, inviting us down for one of those special late evening boat rides for stargazing.  I watched Tylar from a safe distance that day, determined to allow him the freedom to explore to his little heart's content.  

Tylar kept his eye on me too, as I sat quietly alone in the Ranger admiring the landscape, and capturing photos of the scenery all around.  All on his own, he walked over to the biggest bunch of little flowers he could wrap his tiny fingers around, and pulled them up and brought them straight over to me, with dirt hanging off the roots, and said "I love you, Mommy"!  It was a first of many flower-picking-for-gifting triumphs since.  

That had to be one of my favorite days/weeks lakeside.  We enjoyed warmth & fellowship by the fire pit at night until well after dark.  It was foggy when we left that night, and I recall how hard it was getting Tylar's sticky fingers clean from the s'mores & soot before the evening boat ride back home, and how we all wrapped up in several dry towels as we'd forgotten warm jackets.  We found those little flowers on the dashboard of the boat that next morning, they had made a huge mess with dirt & marshmallow still clinging in spots.  A bittersweet mess that was easy yet hard to clean up.  Feels like it was just yesterday!" - Syndi

Fall might quite possibly be my favorite time of year on Smith Lake.  Don't get me wrong, spring and summer are fabulous and, like most, my family and I fully enjoy all the things Smith Lake has to offer during those seasons; but fall brings sweater days, harvest candles, pumpkin spice lattes, homemade soup, and long nights by the fire!  

Unlike many lakes, our lake doesn't shut down due to the changing of season, we simply embrace it in different ways. Afternoon kayak rides are still taken, fishing continues on, some adventurists even continue their watersports well into late November, and many years we are still cruising in the boat in December! We ARE in Alabama after all.

The Lakeside Life is excited to be launching not only our magazine, but also our eCommerce site, bringing Smith Lake the PERFECT items that will help you stay lakeside as long as your heart desires. Stay tuned as we unveil those in the coming days. For a first look at Smith Lake's newest line, be sure to enter your email below. 

The Lakeside Life team has an exciting "Fall on Smith Bucket List"  blog series prepared, just for you! But, for now, sit back and look forward to all the colorful things fall is certain to bring!