In a murky thicket I’m finishing final edits and additions to Ozark Voices, my oral history book. Several chapters deal with the U.S. Forest Service. The head of this huge agency was supervisor for the 1.5 million-acre Mark Twain National Forest, headquartered in Rolla, for many years. Randy Moore has been in the news. He’s supporting a …
Trouble sleeping. After sunset I walk in the woods where stars sparkle above soaring oak and hickories. What’s that noise? An armadillo, bear or ghost? I’m nervous in the dark with just a tiny flashlight. The state has recently opened a season on our Black Bear, the first ever. Forty be “harvested,” as they call …
Today I fastened down the top part of my new trellis. This has been a month-long project done with the help of Kent Brown, including pine provided by David Haenke from the sustainable Alford Forest near Rockbridge, Missouri. My plan is growing pole bean in two boxes. We live in an apartment now with no …
Spring Construction: With Sister Tabitha Babbit & Kent Brown Read More »
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 songwriter in the Fayetteville area. I was lucky to meet him once at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale, Arkansas. An auditor and …
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 largest in the world. Spring water keeps everyone healthy. A big part of this endless cascade depends on surrounding forests. A friend living deep in …
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 these useless ruins of spring and summer into plastic bags or schlepping heavy rotten canvases with organic materials into piles or compost or some unknown …
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 seemed engulfed in huge forest fires. We had been west several years ago and saw monster clouds near Los Alamos from blazes that killed a …
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 …
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 …
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 …
