We’ve reached a great turning point, the Opening of Trout Season, March 1st. A week ago it iced all the way to Texas. Snow plows and cinder trucks growled. A …
The Coldest Night at the Overflow Shelter
This has been a winter to remember. The text message came about 3 p.m. A man who signed up to work at a nearby church taking in homeless can’t make …
Another Capitol Demonstration
Did some hiking in Shannon County to escape bad news. Seeing the January 6 scenes of destruction of our Capitol in Washington caused eerie deja vu. Fifty years ago I …
Homes & Heavens
Our neighborhood rouses amazing holiday decorations inspiring hope in this crazy time. Helpful when the craziest President ever endangers our future. What inspires people to string lights around their houses? …
Hauling Ties in an Early Ozark Blizzard
This story was told to me by the man who lived it, Darrow Doyle Faubus, named for the famous attorney Clarence Darrow. During his retirement Doyle became a singer and …
Not Having a Truck
I just sold my truck. For the first time in roughly a half century I have no way to haul bikes or boards, boats or barrels of beer; snakes, smart-ass …
Rafting the Rockies during a Pandemic.
All winter into spring we’ve wondered if we could trek to the desert. A few weeks before going one couple dropped out of our crew fearing travel from Oregon during …
Alford Forest: New Lease on Life
How to escape a pandemic, urban stress or summer’s heat? A river offers a safe, forever cool retreat. Ozark streams present recreation constantly renewed by huge springs, some of the …
Brinktown Picnic and Beyond
While soaring with uplifting music my mind floats back to Maries County, one of the smallest, sweetest bailiwicks in the Ozarks. To the south of the Missouri Rhineland, Cathy’s mother …
Enjoying Raking Leaves, Not Really
For the first time in some 40+ autumns I don’t have to organize the cleverly designed mini-solar collectors which fall from wooden structures dotting my current domicile. No more stuffing …
A Black Man Hitches Through the Ozarks
Midsummer heat slows me while cruising back home. A man hunched over his backpack along busy U.S. 60 stops me cold. Usually hell-bent for our house after hanging out at …
Spring Burning and Thoughts of China
Driving from our cabin on the Jacks Fork a few days ago, March 17, I felt I was back in Rockies. South of US60 the horizon near Blue Buck Mountain …
Monuments New, Old and Possible
The last few days I’ve been finishing a book review for the oral history journal, a collection of essays History, Memory and Public Life, Routledge 2018. Potentially tedious because it’s somewhat …
Hot Poetry and Deep Freeze in Ol’ Mound City
Let’s start with a first cousin, Joseph Coffino, who came all the way from Los Angles to be in St. Louis for Michael. “We always loved baseball,” Mr. Coffino said. …
Winter Sunset with Summer Memories
Rocky bluffs line the Jacks Fork River along most of her 50 miles. It’s one of the two streams creating the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, which twists thru the Ozarks …
Thankfully Cleaning my Chimney
The new year has swallowed me up with chain sawing, stacking firewood and hauling ashes from our cabin woodstove. There’s nothing like wood heat to warm you. It makes me …
Remembering Vittles Past
My friend Anne Carter Jacobson, now of Columbia MO, sent this story about our days in Phelps County long ago. Cathy and I lived there for almost 30 years and …
Branson Dreaming
This town has come to symbolize the Ozarks for far too many. A recent visit focused my qualms for our country music mecca. Money dominates this view of the Land …
Free Solo with Terry du Bose
I saw a great documentary recently about a young guy who climbs giant rock formations without ropes. Why would anyone take such risks? Having done a fair amount of rock …