I like to encourage you to come to Smith Mountain Lake and I like to give you excuses. But, please…just say no to the Polar Bear thing. We have (at least) two organized groups that get out on the lake New Year’s Day…one to water ski and one to wakeboard. It’s 42 degrees here and the wind has picked up. It’s cloudy and a little damp…looks like it might flurry. Temperatures are supposed to drop during the day and it is going to be 18 tonight…not a time to be on the water…let alone IN the water!

Think wonderful thoughts of that last run you made in August…September…even October…but not JANUARY!!! Make plans for your next run…May…June maybe.

On another note, we still have some snow left over from the “big” snow…I can’t remember when we have had snow on the ground this long. The temperatures are supposed to be very cold this week so it will be here even longer. The snow mound in Dr. Sicher’s parking lot will probably be here in April! It makes the mountain look very pretty and there have been some spectacular deep pink sunrises this week…my resolution for 2010 is to learn to take good (sharable) pictures of these wonderful nature scenes we have all around us here.

The lake community has experienced YEARS of discussion and sometimes heated debate over the application of Appalachian Electric Power to continue to run the hydroelectric project here at Smith Mountain Lake. It’s official now…The Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (known commonly as FERC) has finally renewed AEP’s license for another 30 years.

Are you searching for a present from Smith Mountain Lake to rekindle a warm memory of a summer evening spent here at the lake?
I have a few suggestions…
The Chamber of Commerce has a nice lake DVD on sale for $7.
There are several shops at Bridgewater Plaza that sell tee shirts.
The Little Gallery has a SML charm/pendent for sale.
Ted Pratt is one of the best photographers at the lake and has a calendar, note cards, prints, etc.
How about a gift certificate to a restaurant you enjoyed that you would like to return to? Here is our restaurant list.
Plan a visit in the winter…the lake and the mountain are particularly beautiful in the snow! The quiet, slow pace of the winter life here is restorative.
If you are looking for a big ticket item…please…buy a house…we would be happy to help you do that…visit our web site at SMLHomes.com.
You didn’t think I could resist that last one, did you?

If you’ve been looking for an excuse or two (or three)to come to the lake…we’ve got them!

Santa will be arriving by boat at Bridgewater Plaza on Saturday, November 28th at 1pm.

The Christmas Boat Parade will be held on Saturday December 5th starting at 7. This will go from the Virginia Dare Marina up to the Hales Ford Bridge and back.

The Rotary Club Christmas tree sale has moved to Hot Shots.

The Elks home in the City of Bedford Christmas light display will be nightly from December 11th to the 31st from 5:30 to 10.

The Willard Companies are giving two free movie tickets if you spend $35 at the Westlake Town Center participating shops between November 27th and December 22nd. For more information call 540-721-5288 (they haven’t updated their site with this year’s information as of this writing). Shop locally!!!

Bedford Country has just opened up its FEMA Flood Map site…here: http://bedforddraftfloodmap.timmons.com/?box=on&button=Go+to+Map.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time zooming around looking at properties we’ve sold or listed or shown…satisfied myself that one of the lots I said was unbuildable is indeed unbuildable…but then again…I have been classified as a real estate geek a time or two before :>)…

This past week with the rains from Ida, Smith Mountain Lake was about two feet above “full pond”. That should bring some of these maps into greater perspective.

We are being affected by the remnants of Ida/the coaster Nor’easter too. Lots of road closings and Franklin County schools are closed today. We’ve had 6.91 inches of rain in the last two days at our house (I have a weather station but I had to go out and double check with the stationary rain gauge to make sure what I was seeing was correct!). The lake is rising rapidly…here is a site to check the lake level…it is updated every hour (try to ignore the webmaster’s own guidelines!)….www.smithmountainlakelevel.com/SMLLevelWeb.exe. The weather service is predicting record flooding in Danville. AEP has put out a press release to say that they are moderating releases at the dam.
If you want visuals…channel 7’s weatherbug cameras are collected on this page www.wdbj7.com/Global/category.asp?C=168381…click on the one for Bernard’s Landing and look at the lake level with regard to the stationary docks…
Everybody stay safe!

Lee’s out today showing log cabins in the countryside…some with considerable acreage. Sometimes we forget to mention that the “lake area” is larger than just the lake and the waterfront and water access properties. There is something for just about everyone here…lakefront, lake views, mountains, mountain views, country, back country, close to Roanoke, close to Lynchburg, far away from a city, raw land, land with primitive structures (we saw a listing with a “picnic pavillion” yesterday), land with old singlewides, new doublewides, modest homes, new mansions, old mansions, condos… One of the reasons we really like selling real estate here is the amazing variety…is there something we can show you?

It’s cloudy and cool here today…but our trick or treating was yesterday. Many of the houses here in the area are fairly far apart or do not have full time residents. Years ago our merchant community got together and started trick or treating at the businesses in the area. To include all merchants this year, trick or treating was scheduled for Friday. Expect pictures in the Eagle on Wednesday!

By the way…if you are planning ahead…next “big” excuse to come to the lake is the Chili Cook Off on November 7th at Bridgewater Plaza.

I have been trying to take some pictures of the beautiful fall color here at Smith Mountain Lake but the cloudiness has muted the pictures enough as to be not so useful on the web. SO…in words…here is the color report.
About half the leaves have turned and it is a very colorful year! Even the oaks are showing some red which has not been the norm in the last few years.
A front has finally blown through and taken most of the cloudiness with it however it has brought some strong breezes and rain showers have been taken over by leaf showers in some areas!

The next couple of days are supposed to be pretty nice so if you live close, come over to the lake and enjoy the color!

As I was walking to the mailbox yesterday, I smelled the unmistakable smell of a woodstove just getting cranked up. It was damp and in the 40s…a good day for it. There are a couple of maples around us that have become bright red but the majority of trees are not quite colorful yet. I suppose these are all signs of fall and not unique to Smith Mountain Lake.

It got me thinking about some of our local signs of season change. Spring is when the Bradford pear trees at the Food Lion (soon I will have to specify which Food Lion since they’ve started on the one on the Bedford side!) come into amazing bloom…and the Food Lion runs out of hamburger buns on Friday afternoon because they haven’t anticipated the need! Summer is when the rare occasions occur when you have to wait two cycles of the light on Scruggs Road at 122. Late fall is when the guys who work on the water start complaining about the chill in the air when they go out to winterize the last of the boats (they’re a hardy bunch…I wimp out much earlier!). Winter is when the “fish lady” isn’t outside of Dr. Luke’s office…and spring is when she returns…

Please leave a comment with your own sign of season change here at the lake!