Bo Smith's Website

May 1st through May 15th
We spent the first two weeks in May taking care of medical appointments, me getting my Georgia drivers license and working around the cottage getting ready for our trip to Jacksonville from May 16th through the 21st. We are going to Jacksonville for my 45th reunion of my Navy A4 Skyhawk squadron, the VA-15 Valions (Vietnam deployments in '66 and '67).

We spent a great evening last night (14th) with our neighbors, Dean and Leslie Smith and Diana's sister, Linda, and her husband, Edwin. We enjoyed a super dinner of venison tenderloin stuffed with peppers.
Left to right: Linda and Edwin, Dean, Leslie, Diana

April 23rd through April 30th
I spent the week of 23 April on a trip to Raleigh, NC to see my daughter Stacy, her husband Jed and their son (my 3rd grandson) Oliver. After Raleigh, I went to the cabin to dewinterize it and do some Bo's Mine Tours work.
On Monday, April 23rd, I drove to Raleigh from Jacksonville with Tut and Little Bear as my companions, as usual. We arrived at Stacy's house after six. Stacy and I spent some time with Jed, Jed's mom "Nana" and Oliver and then went out for father/daughter cocktails and dinner; a tradition Stacy started years ago as a father/daughter annual event on my birthday. We've had to alter the date lately with the goal of keeping it as "annual" as possible. We had a great time getting caught up on Oliver's health status and Stacy's new promotion at work to the "Director" management level. After dinner, Tut, Little Bear, and I went to a LaQuinta just outside of Raleigh to the west on Interstate 40 near the airport.

The weekend after my visit, Olliver and the family dog, Neko, were reunited. Neko was off being cared for by friends during Oliver's chemo and surgeries!

On Tuesday morning, I went to Raleigh to visit the North Carolina Museums of History and Natural History. I went to the Museum of History to meet its Chief Curator, Dr. Joe Porter to learn if they had any Hopewell artifacts on display or stored away somewhere. I found that they had one display which featured a Hopewell "mica hand" located on a map in western North Carolina and a arrow pointed toward Ohio, the centre of Hopewell culture. He knew of no other Hopewell artifacts in the museum. The Museum of Natural History has a new display of large emeralds from the North American Emerald Mine (NAEM) in the new expended part of the museum. I also met with Steve Claggett, the North Carolina State Archeologist who gave me some excellent references to explore possibilities of research that exist on Hopewell culture digs in Norh Carolina. All of this research is associated with a project I am working on consulting with a graduate student at the University of Alabama who is writing a thesis on the Hopewell culture.
After my session at the museums, I went to Stacy's house and spent some time with Oliver and "Nana" until Stacy returned from her job at NC State. Nana took a break and Stacy, Jed, and I enjoyed a dinner of Thai food. Afterwards , Stacy went upstairs to spend some time with Oliver before bed and I returned with Tut and Little Bear to the LaQuinta.

On Wednesday, April 23rd, I drove west toward the cabin, detoured at Hickory and spent a few hours looking for hotels or B&Bs in the area that would be useful for conducting my "Emerald Hunt" tour that I am working on. My mission to the cabin was to turn on the water to get ready for the summer season. The water ran muddy as expected but over the next few days of constant running, it ran clear and I cleaned up the sinks, toilets, and showers. I spent Thursday (26th) through Sunday (29th) meeting with old friends; Don, Ann, and Chris Wyatt, enjoying campfires with neighbors Blake and Edna Huffman, and met a new neighbor, Debbie Lewis, a Native American woman and teacher. I spent an afternoon with a friend, Hershel Ward, getting caught up with him and looking for a source of green mica which is found only in the Mitchell County area and which was used for some of the Hopewell artifacts. Hershel recommended that I visit the "Rocks and Things" shop in Spruce Pine and meet Mable Benjamin, a Native American woman who runs the shop. Mable and I spent several hours talking about local mining, the railroad, and several Native American issues. It turned out that Mable and Debbie are good friends. I look forward to spending more time with both of them! I drove back to Thomasville the next day (Monday, April 30th).

April 16th through April 22nd
Diana and I had a great visit to Jacksonville the week of April16th. We stayed with Diana's daughter Alice and her husband Alec at their beautiful home on Harbour Island in Marsh Landing. They are about the only people who will accept us when we have our 5 doggies!

I took advantage of the opportunity to spend some time with my youngest daughter, Lindsay, and her son (my 4th grandson), Curran Smith Harper.
We shared a lunch at one of our favorite places, European Street, and some time at home at her apartment. Her boyfiend Brett Harper is Curran's Dad and was busy working hard at school. He is finishing up the first portion of his Bacelor of Nursing degree at Florida State College of Jacksonville.

In addition to taking care of a few medical appointments, I had a chance to take up one of my favorite hobbies, fishing. I tried the river but caught nothing. However, my luck improved when I moved to the surf with my "fishing buddy", Lehman Barnes. We fished in front of his condo in South Jacksonville Beach.

I caught a nice Gulf Whiting and a Speckled Trout
(This is not Lehman, but a passerby.)

Thank you Alec for cleaning the fish! I hope that you, Diana, and Alice enjoyed the fresh fish!

I was also able to spend some tme working on activities related to the Jacksonville Cornell Club. I serve a the chairman of a committee which as part of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN). We are resonsible for participating in college fairs and contacting students from northeast Florida who have applied for admission to Cornell. This week, I helped out another committee member at the Ponte Vedra High School College Fair and attended with Diana a reception for accepted students which was held at the Sawgrass Beach Blub.

My favorite part is talking with the students.
They are so bright and are positively motivated.

The 'coup de grace" was having dinner and attending the symphony with some of our best friends.
We met for dinner at BB's on Hendricks Avenue and then enjoyed Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto.

From left to right: Lehman and Marianne Barnes, Diana Conlon (her husband and my Gator game buddy, Joe, was home sick), Alec and Alice Hickox, and Diana.

April 15th (Sunday)
We will be driving from the cottage in Thomasville, GA to Jacksonville tomorrow for a week or so. I'll update you on the various activities there and hopefully some great pictures. I'm also planning to drive from Jacksonville to Raleigh, NC to visit my daughter Stacy, her husband Jed, and my grandson Oliver. Oliver is doing very well since his second surgery and most recent chemo treatment. His numbers are very good and his hair is growing back. Hopefully, while we are gone the construction of a new dock will be complete, compliments of Diana's sister Linda.

The week of April 9th through April 14th
The major activity for the week was the screening in of our second floor back porch. We hired a friend to do the carpentry and screeinhg work and I painted the deck almost a Bo's Mine Tours green color. It's going to be so nice to be able to read and enjoy a late night cigar without bugs!

When we get the furniture arrranged on the porch, I'll send a picture so you can see the beautiful green deck.

April 4th (Wednesday)
We drove to Diana's son Wade's farm on the Pavo Road outside Thomasville for a celebration of the birthday of Wade's son Austin.

Wade is a great host and barbeque chef and can always be relied upon to deliver an excellent meal.

This is Wade's son Ausin and his girlfriend and friends in the background.

March 30th through April 1st
Our good friends from Jacksonville, Quinton and Docia Miller, visited us at the cottage for the weekend.

Quinton, Docia, and Diana by the cottage front door.
Diana enjoyed setting up two nights of fellowship at the cottage with friends so they could meet Quinton and Docia.

March 20th through March 27th
I drove from the cottage in Thomasville, Ga to our cabin in mountains of western North Carolina on Tuesday, March 20th to pick up my mining equipment for the MAGMA (Mountain Area Gem and Mineral Association) emerald dig at the North American Emerald Mine (NAEM) in Hiddenite, North Carolina (northwest of Statesville). I stayed at Daisy and Kenny Hoilman's house in Hickory on the 22nd throough the 24th. Daisy and Kenny have a moutain home next to our cabin. The MAGMA NAEM dig was on Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th.

Me at the North American Emerald Mine

A man about 10 feet from me found this 50ct emerald

I drove back to the cabin on Saturday evening on Saturday the 25th. I decided to stay at the cabin an extra day so that I could spend some time with our friends Lud and Joyce Leiner. I assist Lud in his Rockmine Tours business as one of his guides. I give tours to his Martin Feldspar Mine. Lud and I walked his Martin Mine on Monday so that we could see what needed to be done to get ready for this summer's mine tours season.

Lud at one of the collecting sites of the Martin Mine

Me taking a break at one of the mine sites near the beautiful Toe River.

March 17th (Saturday)
It's been a busy week. I drove to Jacksonville on Monday and saw my youngest daughter Lindsay and her baby son (my 4th grandson) Curran on Monday afternoon. I was also able to spend some time with Lindsay's boyfriend (and Curran's father) Brett Harper. Brett is incredibly busy as a full time nursing student and part time bartender as well as helping Lindsay out with Curran.

I stayed with my great friends Jerry (Possum) and Sarah Terrel. Possum and I were shipmates in my first Navy A-4 squadron , the VA-15 Valions during the Vietnam era onboard USS Intrepid. We had a great time retelling war stories and discussing the squadron reunion we are planning for mid-May.

I visited with Lindsay and Curran agin on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons before returning to the cottage on Wednesday

March 11th (Sunday)
I will be on my way tomorrow to see my new grandson, Curran. I plan to be in Jacksonville until Wednesday spending as much time as I can with Lindsay and Curran and hopefully some time with Lindsay's boyfriend Brett Harper. Brett is a very busy full time nursing student and part time bar tender as well as new father! I will be staying with my good friend Jerry (Possum) Terrell and his wife Sarah who I have known for 45 years. Meanwhile, Diana will be minding the store and the five doggies in Thomasville.

We had about five inches of rain about a week ago and the spill control pipe ruptured resulting in the loss of about half of our lake water. The problem was repaired; actually, they elected to remove the spill control pipe completely relying on a spillway to control the level. Luckily, we haven't seen any evidence of a fish kill as of yet. One positive effect is that the old dock on the property is totally on dry land and it has been decided that this is a great opportunity to replace the dock. They should be getting started while I am in Jacksonville visiting Lindsay, Curran, and the Terrells.

March 2nd (Friday)

My daughter, Lindsay, gave birth to Curran Smith Harper at 8:12 pm.
Mother and son are healthy and happy. I'm very proud of Lindsay. She is a wonderful daughter.
Curran is my fourth grandson.

February 23rd, 2012 (Thursday)
Diana and I along with our five doggies are driving from Thomasville to Jacksonville today to spend the weekend. We plan to have dinner with our good friends, Marianne and Lehman Barnes this evening, Thursday; brunch with my youngest daugher Lindsay Friday and dinner with Diana's daughter Alice and her husband Alec on Friday night. We have an open day on Saturday and plan to drive back to Thomasville on Sunday; UNLESS my daughter Lindsay interrupts the plan. Lindsay is nine months pregmant with Curran Smith Harper and is due on Friday. Such excitement!!

Oliver Report

My grandson Oliver Smith Gant (Stacy and Jed's son) has completed his latest round of chemotherapy following his second major surgery; this time at Sloan Kittering in New York. Oilver is a fighter! Jed and Stacy have received incredible support from family, coworkers and the Raleigh community.
Please include Oliver in your prayers for his complete recovery!

Reading Report

A big hint about my most recent reading adventures is revealeed by the book I am holding in the picture above. Last November, a friend of the family, Nancy, who had stayed in our Jacksonville house watching over the place while we spent the summer at our cabin in North Carolina and then stayed with us until we sold the house gave me a book written by Nelson DeMille called "Up Country". I had never read a Nelson DeMille novel but had seen the movie, "The General's Daughter" which was based on his novel by the same name. I totally enjoyed "Up Country" which is about a Army retired CID detective who returned to Vietnam and relived his experiences during the 1968 "Tet Offensive" in northern part of South Vietneam before moving to North Vietnam and eventually Hanoi investigating a sensitive case. I enjoyed "Up Country" and moved on to another DeMille novel, "The Charm School", a tale about a school outside of Moscow for the training of deep cover agents learning American culture. The intructional staff in the novel were American POWs who had been clandestinely moved from North Vietnem to Moscow during the Vietnam War. After reading "The Charm School", I learned that DeMille has a series of novels with a main character, John Corey, a retired NYPD dective working under contract with New York's "Anti-Terrorist Task Force" (ATTF) located in 26 Federal Plaza near the site of the World Trade Center. The mythical ATTF (based on an actual organization) is lead by the FBI but has NYPD detectives and an ocassional CIA type as a part of the mix. The John Cory character is right up there with James Patterson's Alex Cross and Michael Bennett. Nelson DeMille has written five John Corey books and I have now read them all. If you start reading them, you will get hooked!! The John Corey novels in the series in order are: "Plum Island", "The Lion's Game", "Night Fall", "Wild Fire", and his most recent novel "The Lion" (a sequel of "The Lion's Game)". I have also recently read two more DaMille novels; "Gold Coast" (which was a #1 NY Times Best Seller) and the sequel, "The Gate House". Reading these novels inspired me to reread F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"

February 20th, 2012
We spent the fall and early winter packing up and moving from our house in Jacksonville, Florida to our delightful cottage about 40 miles north of Tallahassee on Route 19 near the beautiful town of Thomasville, Georgia.

I think he can respond with a great deal of pride and satisfaction ....... I served in the U.S. Navy "

View of cottage from our rustic oval driveway	View of cottage from across the lake
View of the lake from our 2nd floor back porch	View of the pool from the 2nd floor back porch