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 feel like snuggling up with a great book and getting inspired. This job takes incredible patience, a warm day and a decent beer. For 25 …
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 of a Thousand Smiles, as the community used to bill itself. Cathy and I landed a deal on an overnight stay at a new Bass …
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 climbing in Colorado during college, I watched ‘Free Solo’ with sweaty palms while hanging onto my seat and Cathy closely. The film of Alex Honnold’s …
A month ago I was on one of the most spectacular cycling trips in the world, the Finnish Archipelago, some 20,000 islands stretching west toward southern Sweden across the Baltic Ocean. I never expected to be so knocked out by endless pine trees, sand dunes and herring three meals a day. Maybe it was just …
This story involves my growing up on the edge of the Ozarks. This may be the beginning of my roots in oral history projects. I think of ol’ Charlie all the time… Impressions staying the longest often involve rivers and dogs, or at least summer, when Charlie’s wife took off from working in a Kansas …
It’s a perfect summer day in western Connecticut, where Tom Zetterstrom still lives at the edge of an ideal town, Canaan. He’s the lord of nearby Rattlesnake Hill. We’ve been friends for 50+ years. Long ago I nearly landed a job on the Berkshire Eagle, one of the great newspapers still filled with in-depth local …
Hard to believe that it’s been six years since I’ve had a chance visit with folks in Ripley County. I’ve decided to post now this because Ray Joe is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met. Whenever possible I stop by Doniphan, once known as ‘Railroad Tie Capital of The World’. History lurks everywhere …
For two days I’ve been collecting catalpa worms from our bright green sapling. Her foliage has been shredded apparently by machine guns. Nope, it’s these bright green worms feasting away a lovely summer day! Let this be a warning to all you catalpa worms! Please don’t eat our little tree or you will become the …
This evening I had been fixed up by chance with a very active wild character. Cute as a button. Loved peanuts. Thats what got us together. Would eat anything offered. This was the biggest part of the problem. This critter ate way too much. Peanuts and all the walnuts available. Even tomatoes. So I took …
Eating dinner outside under the big shingle oak all of a sudden the bug song that marks the end of summer hailed forth. We’re almost half-way through August, my favorite month. We didn’t have any 100-degree days this summer, mainly lots of rain. Tomatoes seem slow in ripening. But the insect symphony has started right …
What kinds of stories do people have about trees? Why are we so inspired by these huge, slow-moving leafy towers in town or out in the wilds? We all universally like them. Several friends helped me put together an oral history of peoples feelings about trees ten or so years ago. Maybe there are still …
Prickly Desert Outing: Volunteering at Paatuwaqatsi, the Hopi run for water and life This must rank as one of the most unusual running events anywhere: to cover 30 miles across Arizona during severe drought and heat. As winter sweeps across lands that once made up the Dust Bowl, I think about my time in the …
